Today (18th April 2007) Sceptic Chris French appeared on ITV's This Morning program.
He was up against ITV's newest wannabe Sally Morgan (Star Psychic), also along for the ride were Mia Dolan (Haunted Homes) and Susie Johns.
As per usual Phil and Fern were doing the ITV promotion nonsense, since both Star Psychic and Haunted Homes are both ITV shows, so you knew they were never going to be anything other than sicophantic.
At least we had 1 sceptic on the show.
Chris did an ok job under the circumstances.
The 3 psychics gave a woman (believer) a reading, and all had mixed results.
Here are the clips on Youtube
« Last Edit: Oct 15, 2011, 5:29pm by Stelio Kontos »
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #1 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:01pm »
A Look At the Claims Of "Star" Psychic Sally Morgan Originally Published 2008/1/23
Since Sally Morgan now has her Star Psychic show on ITV1, I thought I would bump up this article we wrote about her recently. Originally published May 10th 2007 Just a day after we posted the below article on Sally Morgan, she has now changed her site and removed all of the "police cases" that we highlighted.
This is proof if ever was needed that we really can make a difference, however small, sometimes in life you have to challenge the claims made by these people, and in the end be confident that we can make a difference.
So well done to Sally Morgan for removing the claims, how about an apology now?
I will leave the article up as a reminder of the claims that Sally Morgan made. So here we have Sally Morgan, the latest 'psychic to the stars', there seems to be a new one every week. I had a look at her website, www.psychicsally.com, and was not totally shocked to find she claims to be used for:
Quote:
special purpose police and other investigations
Now, it seems to me that if you're a 'rising star' in the celebrity psychic world, you need to claim you've solved a few unsolved murders, found the odd missing body and "assisted the Police". Unfortunately many people do not actually look into these claims.For example, Joe Power, the Countries most un-psychic psychic claims to have 'assisted' the Police in a murder enquiry.
His assistance was to turn up at the Police Station with his views about what had happened. The Officer in the case was unable to see him (I wonder why) and he left a statement at the front desk for which his manger claims he was "given a receipt". Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you 'assisting the Police'.
So, on to Morgans claims. There was a handy link on the website to her "special purpose police and other investigations", I thought I had better take a look at them.
1) Claims to have talked to a very dead Reggie Kray.
Now this was not a special purpose Police investigation, this was for a TV documentary, so not really an investigation at all. Kray, we are told, confesses to her, a murder previously unknown, giving the identification of the victim, and the location of the body. This is massive news considering the interest in the Krays.
Well no, actually it isn't, as there has been no follow up to this startling evidence that I can find. The only confession Reggie gave was on his deathbed, to the murder of a man, possibly Teddy Smith. Strike one.
2) Psychic Sally Uncovers Company Thief.
Now I'm hoping that someone reading this will be able to help me out here. I have searched and searched for a a company called 'Sunbeam Gear' that distributes designer sunglasses, I cant find one, or reference to one, other than on Morgans site. Apparently it is at this company that Morgan claims to have worked her magic. Once again this has nothing to do with the Police, but rather cleverly worded:
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so after making enquiries with the police, he called in Sally Morgan.
Now doesn't that sound like they were advised by the Police to see her?
The Company, whoever they are, had a stock loss problem with designer sunglasses going missing. Apparently Morgan had her doubts about a number of members of staff, presumably the ones wearing shades, and together with the executives of the Company, hatched a cunning plan to find the thieves. The plan was to have Morgan
Quote:
tour the factory floor as a representative from a regional office complete with clipboard.
yep, complete with clipboard.
Quote:
The tour enabled Sally to confirm her first impression and to see how the scam was being conducted
So she "saw" how it was being done. Dressed up as an employee, she witnessed members of staff stealing stock. Thats not a psychic, thats a Loss Prevention Investigator, I know, Ive been one. Strike two.
3) Sally Discovers Dog Lost Underground Alive:
The Police call in Sally to find a lost dog. Actually no, of course they bloody didn't.
Yet another 'non-Police case'. Sally walks around a bit to try and find a lost dog. She doesn't find it but says it'll come back. It does. Amazing, truly amazing. I'm a convert... no, I'm not... Strike three
4) Psychic Sally Pinpoints Body of Girl Murdered Eight Years Ago:
Although Sally says that the names in the case have been changed, this is the Helen McCourt case in the late 1980's where Pub Landlord Ian Simms was convicted of her murder although her body has never been found. Tony Stockwell has spouted some nonsense about this case in the past and the amazing Joe Power has also made claims regarding helping the Police find her body.
Morgan makes some remarkable errors about a case she claims to have assisted with.
Quote:
The man who killed Ann was arrested trying to dump her clothes. He asked whether he'd been caught because someone had spotted his van on wasteland. Police set up a crime scene at the site of his arrest. Sally Morgan's location eight years later is on wasteland and police now have it on file.
Simms was not arrested trying to dump her clothes. Mens clothes and towels were found the day before Police even spoke to Simms, it was a month later that Helen's clothes and bag were found. Simms was arrested after he gave a Police statement and an earing was found in the boot of his car which was believed to have been one of Helen's.
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She identified details about the case that she couldn't possibly have known. She saw something glinting on the floor at the murder scene and described it as the spoke of a belt buckle. In fact, police had found an earring caught in the crack of the floorboards of the pub where Ann was killed.
Things she couldn't possibly have known? She describes a belt buckle in the crack of the floorboards. The Police, as previously mentioned, found an earing in the boot of Simms car. They later found the back 'butterfly' clip from an earing in the flat above the pub, although it could not be shown to match the earing in the car. I'm confused, where does the spoke of a belt buckle come into all of this...
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Whether it will help Helen to find the body of her daughter so long after her death is another matter. Some prefer to let matters rest.
Some prefer to let matters rest?? Helen's Mother was quoted in 2002 as saying:
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It's an awful, awful thing when you can't bury your child. It's like a tap drip, drip, dripping away on my head. I feel as if I am in limbo and can't move on.
Yet Morgan has 'pinpointed' the location of Helen's body?
In typical psychic manner, Morgan has made unsubstantiated claims and some serious errors. But hey, its fine to make yourself a celebrity reputation using the death of someones daughter, isn't it?
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #2 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:05pm »
Sally Morgan Street Psychic - Brian Dowling Originally Published - 2007/8/9
Up until now Sally Morgan was no more than a small time psychic with big claims, who appeared on a small cable TV channel, watched by less than half a million people, but now she has moved onto ITV1, Terrestrial TV and has a much larger audience.
This worries us here at BadPsychics as we genuinely believed that TV stations were starting to wise up to the tricks of these people.
At least Channel 4 is being responsible with their new show made by Richard Dawkins (13th August, check it out).
Anyway back to Sally, some of you may have seen the first run of her series on ITV2, now any rational person with an ounce of intelligence will be able to see through her act as nothing more than cold reading and prior research, unfortunately there are those people out there who are taken in by this nonsense.
And it is these people specifically we want to reach, I emplore you to read our other articles on Sally, including the one where we forced her to remove various lies from her website.
Here is a clip of her with reality non-celebrity Brian Dowling.
Firstly I would like to apologise on behalf of the entire United Kingdom for Brian Dowling, our gay men are not all like that I promise, in fact we have some gay men who are not egotistical, over acting pond scum. Anywho.
I love the fact that Sally claims to be this international psychic, with a famous client list including Uma Thurman and Robert Deniro and all she can muster up for this reading is someone who appeared on Big Brother. I think the term is "Celebrity Psychic? My Arse"
Sally starts off the reading talking about money and spending, it should be made clear here that Brian spent over 3 months on a reality tv show where EVERYTHING he said and did was broadcast semi live on TV, hardly a difficult person to read is he. Also it is quite the stereotype that gay men like to dress well, look after themselves and like shopping, well the camp over acting ones anyway.
Sally then tells Brian he needs a puppy he can carry! What a ridiculous thing to say, again she is playing straight into his personality, and as such this is quite sad to watch.
She claims that he is quite vunerable in his private life, this is pure cold reading now, many extroverts act out in public to hide their insecurities, it is very much a defence mechanism, and is well understood by psychologists.
Much of what Sally says is infact future predictions, which of course as we all know is the safest form of psychic claptrap.
But in one of her claims she actually makes a mistake, she tells him that if he brings his public assertiveness to his private life then he will find someone, she then tells him to "control the wondering", she obviously thinks that as he is an outgoing, overly camp gay man, that he sleeps around, but then Brian reveals that he is not promiscious at all, of course this mistake is simply ignored and Sally carries on with her reading.
Sallys whole reading is basically telling Brian what he wants to hear, she uses simple cold reading techniques to reinforce what he says back to her.
And thats it, I am sorry but did i miss the demonstration of psychic ability?
After wring the above piece, a fellow admin of BadPsychics did some investigating and realised that despite the claims of the show, Sally had in fact given a reading to Brian before! See below for details of this latest scandal.
By Jon Donnis
'Psychic' Sally is apparently not really giving us all the details behind her 'psychic abilities' On Wednesday 8th August 07 we were [d]subjected[/d] treated to Sally giving Brian Dowling a 'reading'.
According to Brian's website, this was recorded in April 2007. Before the reading, we are shown Sally being transported to the reading in a car. She is shown a photograph of Brian and asked if she new who he was, she replies "well, I know of him".
Well Sally, you actually know a little more than that don't you? You see Sally has met Brian before. Not just met him, she's given him a 'psychic' reading.
Sally Morgan featured in NEWS OF THE WORLD - SUNDAY MAGAZINE 23rd JANUARY 2005. In an interview with the Big Brother winner, Television Presenter, Brian Dowling, who explained what happened for him at a reading with Psychic Sally.
PSYCHIC LIFE OF BRIAN… I’m Famous and Frightened star Brian Dowling freaks out with Medium Sally Morgan Brian Dowling is back on our TV screens in Living’s paranormal show next month, But what’s in store for the star in 2005? Celebrity psychic Sally Morgan reveals all….
The full 'reading' that Sally gave him can be read on Brians site under the 'Press' section.
In fact, if you wanted to do a good 'psychic reading' on Brian yourself, have a look at his Bio, his CV and his My-space page. There is little this man has not made public, everything down to his parents first names, his siblings names and his favourite colour. Combine this with Sally having met this man before and it doesn't take a huge amount of paranormal ability to come up with what little she did.
As its been stated before, if Sally Morgan is the 'Psychic to the Stars' how come she is giving z-list celebrities serial readings?
The Production Company should be ashamed of a program like this, they may have been able to rescue a little self respect if they had happened to mention that Morgan had previously given Dowling a reading. But then that would ruin the illusion a little wouldn't it, its not half as 'amazing' if you realise that they actually know each other..... (Mind you, saying he should buy a puppy is hardly displaying psychic powers is it?....)
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #3 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:08pm »
Sally Morgan Street Psychic - Liz McLarnon
It seems that Sally Morgan has finally found herself a real celebrity with an actual talent in the very sexy Liz McClarnon.
For anyone who isn't aware of Liz, she was formally in music band Atomic Kitten, as well as appearing in some reality tv shows.
I think she has a beautiful voice and it is a damn shame that she isn't on TV more often.
Anyway on to the reading which will be (or was, depending when you read this) broadcast on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 on ITV1
The first thing to notice is that it is quite clear that Liz is a believer, she talks about wanting to know about the future, relationships as well as hear from her Grandmother.
The first problem we have is that Liz is openly telling the production crew what she would like to hear from Sally, and since there are no controls in place, we have no way of knowing whether this info gets back to Sally in any capacity.
We are basically being told to trust the company making this show that they wont cheat, the problem is that for this company to make money it is in their best interest for Sally Morgan to be successful.
Just something to keep in mind whenever watching any psychic on TV.
I always think it is a bit pointless reading for celebrities especially when they obviously have such public profiles, it would be relatively easy to research anyone of this nature.
Sally is given a picture of Liz and asked for her first impressions, Sally mentions a woman being close to her, quite an elderly lady, at no point does Sally say if this person is dead or alive, as any psychic Sally has to make sure she covers as many options as possible.
We then hear a voice over telling us that Sally hasn't been briefed and has not met Liz or her boyfriend before, of course we know from the Brian Dowling reading that this is not always the case.
My advice is DONT TRUST THE PRODUCTION COMPANIES.
The reading begins and Sally goes straight in with there being a Grandmother around, maybe a great grandmother.
This is a typical psychic ploy, you are always safe to go with a grandmother, as they are likely to be dead, but Liz is quite young, in her mid 20's so there is a good chance that her grandmother could very well be alive, so because of this Sally mentions Great Grandmother as well, almost as a backup.
Notice the confirmatory body language by Liz.
Next Sally simply asks Liz a question "Did you know your great grandmother?"
And Liz reveals that she did, and she knew her very well.
This could potentially be a problem for Sally, so I am interested to see how she deals with it.
Sally claims that these dead people are saying that there could be a problem with committment in the relationship between Liz and her boyfriend.
This is blatant cold reading, on one side you have a popstar who will need to tour, possibly leave the country, and on the other side a footballer who has to travel all around teh country as part of his job.
So all Sally has done here is pick on the obvious potential problems of such a celebrity couple and pretend this is coming from Liz's dead relatives.
Sally then claims there will be a baby in the future for Liz. Well Liz is in her mid twenties (perfect child baring age) in a secure relationship, so of course a baby is a future possibility.
Anything else Sally says here is purely what Liz and her chap would like to hear, nothing at all psychic, just general predictions that anyone would make.
What we see next is a blatant attempt at pro Sally editing.
Liz's boyfriend Lee wants to ask Sally about his Uncle who passed away. At this point the camera cuts and we get a close up of Sally as she correctly states his uncles name.
This was so blatant it is truly inexcusible.
The problem we now have is that we have no idea how much Lee has just told Sally about his uncle, so Sally now comes out with various bits of info that can all be instantly discredited due to the edit.
Next we have a piece of classic cold reading as Sally ASKS Lee a question: "Did you injure your ear?" to which Lee reveals that he used to have trouble with his ears when he was younger.
Sally then replies "Yeeeeaaaaahhh because he says it was......."
This is 100% pure cold reading. The psychic asks the victim a question, they tell the psychic something, then the psychic repeats back to them pretending that it is the dead relative that has told them.
Feel free to go back and watch it a few times, as this is textbook stuff that everyone should be aware of.
Ask yourself why Sally didn't tell Lee about his ear, and worth noting that Sally asked if he INJURED his ear when he was younger. When in fact he had an ear condition and not an injury.
Next Sally tells Lee that his uncle is telling him not to smoke, Lee revals he doesn't smoke, so Sally has to change her routine here slightly, and claims that smoking killed Lees uncle, Lee actually shakes his head and disagrees with her, but she insists and he reveals that his uncle did smoke.
Since this was a blatant miss by Sally it is quickly forgoten about, and we cut away to Lee saying how he has been convinced by Sally, well who said footballers were smart?
Next is a classic specific sounding statement that is in fact quite vague.
Sally tells them they need a new bed. Yep this woman who talks to the dead and claims Jesus like powers is using her abilities to tell someone they need a new bed.
The question you need to ask yourself is how many statements similar to this did Sally make that turned out wrong, and were then edited out of the show, a fair few I bet.
Sally makes a hit on the bed and we then have Liz burst out laughing as Sally gives a smug look to the camera.
Lets just think about this, two young lovers have a bed that needs replacing, hardly a big shock is it, in fact I wonder how many of you out there could do with a new bed? I know i need one.
Not so specific when you think about it, is it.
Sally then claims that Liz is about to get a lovely present, this is blatantly alluding to Lee's proposal of marriage that we already know is coming soon.
In fact Liz had already told this to Sally earlier on, so this we can actually put down to hot reading!!
Liz now asks Sally about a relative who may need hospital treatment soon.
Sally gets the name wrong but is suspiciously close, I wonder if this was a mistake by Sally in remembering what she had been told by the research team earlier?
Sally tells Liz that her relative will be fine and that she has a man in spirit around her.
I for one hope Liz's relative will be fine, although of course there is no way we can ever find out if this is true or not.
And thats the end of it.
At no point did Sally tell Liz the name of her Grandmother or Great Grandmother, most likely because Liz never told Sally or anyone else their names.
Out of the whole reading only one part seemed to be psychic, and that could instantly be dismissed due to dodgy editing by the production crew.
I for one am not convinced one bit by Sally Morgan, and in fact i find her entire act tiresome and "old hat"
She needs a new gimmick, and maybe some lessons on morals and ethics.
By Jon Donnis
(Note: Original youtube video of this has been removed. Sorry guys)
Sally is the showbiz medium du jour having read for cinema legend Robert DeNiro, George Michael, Bob Geldof, Uma Thurman and perhaps most notably the late Princess Diana.
Well we already know that she lied about Robert DeNiro, but what about the others.
Well we managed to get in contact with Bob Geldof of all people, here is the official reply from his personal assistant.
Quote:
Sir Bob has never contacted her and is not a client.
So there you have it, another Sally Morgan lie exposed by BadPsychics.com
And if anyone doubts us, then feel free to do the research like we have and contact these celebrities yourself.
I am starting to wonder if Sally Morgan has ever made a true statement in her entire life.
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #5 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:12pm »
This is a website comment left by user Bec17. The following comes with no evidence but is based on a conversation held with someone who appeared on the ITV 2 show.....
And yet more lies it appears - I was a believer and watched her ITV2 show with much interest, during her show she was giving a web cam reading to a man I knew and all sounded very good. The man who I dont see often but i happened to bump into the other day and i asked him what is like 'his reading'. he told me tht the internet/web cam reading actually took place in the same house as Sally Morgan and was not in his own home, he travelled to London for day/evening for this to do done, yet the prgramme led us to believe this was done in peopls own homes (LIE) he then told me that although he did not actualy meet with Sally but the director had previousely asked lots of personal questions about people he had lost, the info he gave the director was the same info that Sally came up with in his reading (LIAR)he also said that Sally did coem up with some things he had not said however for the reading to take place the director had to contact all his immediate family to get their agreement in doing this is was also able to ask questions. the reading Sally gave was based on information the director had alreadt obtained.
Lies Lies and more Lies, how is it people can still get away with this?????
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #6 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:14pm »
Note the Tiscali videos are no longer available. A Look At Sally Morgans Tiscali Videos
I’m sure everyone is on the Badpsychics website is aware of who Sally Morgan is, she’s the self proclaimed Psychic who enjoys lying about what celebrities she has giving readings to, anyway I’ll continue. Within Sally’s promoted profiles on the tiscali website we are given a host of different videos, in which she tells us certain aspects and information on herself and the spirit world.
I personally found it difficult to obtain videos of Sally’s psychic performances, which is why the information I’m presenting to you is based on restricted information from two minute clips found on http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/newage/features/sally-morgan.html As the videos on youtube had already been looked at.
Here we are presented with a problem as we are looking at videos that are meant to promote the idea of spiritualism and Sally’s abilities so it is unlikely we’ll catch the blatant edits that ITV’s “Star Psychic” gave us, but still some dubious evidence can be found. Here are the videos and my connotations.
“What are guardian Angels”
In this video clip Sally tells us about her “beliefs” and what she “thinks” of guardian angels. She describes them as being men dressed in white or silver clothing, who are about 10ft tall, have their wings closed to appear taller (it is unknown whether this exceeds the height of 10ft) and are very rare to see. I’ll let you come to your own conclusion for the last reason.
This link provided tells us about angels in the bible, and that “Most references to angels in the Bible say nothing about wings, and in passages like Genesis 18-19, it is certain that no wings were visible.”
I’d also like to point out that angels’ wings were added thanks to medieval artists possibly from the renaissance, as it made the figures stand out in comparison to the other figures in the paintings that weren’t of the divine.
Sally goes on to explain that guardian angels are normally someone who has been related to you and passed, although you could of never met the relative who is your guardian angel; this indicates you need an esoteric knowledge of your family tree in order to know who your Guardian Angel is. However according to Mia Dolan and her bestseller “The Gift” guardian angels are assigned randomly and not members of your family, for more information ask Mia’s medieval monk spirit guide Eric.
Sally’s interpretation of the spirit world slightly differs from the normal description of seven levels, as she sees three. She describes it as “Earth Plane – Spirit plane – Divinity (where god sits)”, she then added “I see spirit world everyday” a great insight into her knack of creating coherent sentences.
For these claims she gives anecdotes as evidence, such is this one about “a friend who lives in a very isolated house in Shropshire”, a very detailed address that can easily be referenced to back her claim, that runs in a similar fashion to when someone tells you their mate once met Jim Davidson, it’s such a non-event it could actually be true. Anyway this “good friend” who was going through strenuous times and had pneumonia (although she was unaware of it), saw a vision of an angel. At first she shrugged it off as a hallucination, and, “thought it was her child, wrapped in baking foil”. Of course a common sight, her 10ft child who was known for wrapping him/herself in tin foil wearing wings and sitting in the room staring at the mother who can manage to sleep pneumonia off could of easily been playing a prank, the little bastard.
But of course this wasn’t the case, it was in fact a real angel.
“Spirit World”
This video probably gives us the most insight into Sally’s amazing abilities, which she tells us she’s had since she was a child, but has obviously been reluctant to share with the world until her age now which is unknown, but carbon dating has suggested its about 600 years or its 50 something, I honestly forget.
It also gives a big insight on how much Sally doesn’t know and how great she isn’t at bulls*itting her way through interviews that do their best to promote her abilities.
She assures us that the spirit world exists due to the fact that “our brains are this big, we only use this much”, although it looks like she suggests we only use about 3% of our brains I think she is referring to the myth of that we only use 10% of our brains which maybe an accurate measurement for Sally, but its certainly not the case for the rest of us, as the idea that we only use 10% of our brains isn’t true, because we in fact use 100% of our brains. The myth appeared when Einstein stated, “We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources” and continued when scientists found that rats could relearn tasks after the removal of large areas of the cerebral cortex.
For some reason she finds it important to bring quantum physics into the equation (no bad pun intended).
Richard Feynman, once said, “ I think I can safely say that no one understands quantum mechanics”, unless of course you’re a psychic housewife. It’s really puzzling why Sally Brings quantum physics into it, she clearly falls down on the subject, and admittedly it’s brilliant to watch her attempt to make facts up, it’d be less obvious if her nose began to grow. The obvious reason I can see is that she name-dropped quantum physics in attempts to give a scientific background, perhaps not a good idea when your scientific knowledge goes as far as the water-cycle.
Lets also remember that Feynman, Planck and Einstein weren’t famous for their ground breaking discoveries of the link between quantum physics and some ignorant women’s claims on what she thinks is real, they made amazing discoveries that have become some of the most important theories in science today. The strongest theory of course being that Sally Morgan is an idiot.
“Why visit a medium?”
Video translation: give me money in exchange for vague comments on your potential love life and business, as I bluff my way though my pseudo profession.
I will commend Sally for her work on changing skeptics and cynics, and how being challenged “puts fire in her belly”, perhaps Randi’s million-dollar Challenge is in order, or maybe she just needs some Gaviscon.
“How to deal with ghosts”
Just for the win I’d like to point out she contradicts herself in this video, when she says that “I can see ghosts, I can see spirit world” as she couldn’t see the spirit world in the “spirit world” video, this could be us witnessing her psychic abilities developing before our own eyes, or that she is so careless that she doesn’t know what lie she has said where. She also suggests using a priest to cleanse a haunted house; I wouldn’t bother since the Catholic Church doesn’t believe in spirits lingering around this world, something about a Heaven, Hell and Purgatory rings a bell.
To back up this point, often the local priest and myself have chuckled about this, he tells me how he gets called out at Halloween yearly due to people who have watched too many Exorcist, The Ring and Casper movies and have become taken away with the fantasy.
A man who believes that the universe was created in seven days, every animal in the world lived in a strolling distance from Noah’s house also believes that spiritualism is ridiculous; surely that dictates the authenticity of the whole idea.
Sally’s amazing psychic abilities give us all the proof we need to embrace spiritualism as she has now managed to embarrass herself in videos that do their best to promote her. Randi has truly met his rival.
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #7 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:16pm »
A Review of the Sally Morgan: Star Psychic TV Show
Sally Morgan and ITV last year provided us with another epic series of “Star Psychic”, the programme that puts self-proclaimed “Psychic for the stars” through rigorous, demanding tasks to prove that she is the real deal.
Again we see the same old formula, Sally scuttles around Great Britain giving readings to members of the public and to “celebrities”.
The celebrities interviewed are far from the high flyers she’s boasted about previously. Robert De Niro is replaced with Richard Bacon, Simon and Garfunkel are replaced by the Cheeky Girls.
The promotional voice over even goes as far as telling us that Sally was the psychic personal assistant to Princess Diana. You’d think that a psychic personal assistant would perhaps warn you of your impending death in a tunnel in France, but obviously not.
Sally also wasn’t present in the front pews of the church where the service was held, suggesting perhaps that this is one of her many fibs. Not once can you see her during Elton’s performance of “Candle in the Wind”, a song that conveys messages of unreliability. All I could see was close up of the Royal family mourning and an eyebrow doing it’s best to escape Elton’s face.
Before I go into the content of the show and each reading I’d like to point out that odds aren’t in the viewers favour. ITV has used editing, research prior to readings and selected individuals to work in the favour and to promote Sally.
I’d go as far as saying that the “celebrities” used are informed prior to the filming, and it’s ignorant to think that Sally’s not aware of which celebrities she will be reading for.
We kick things off with a reading for T.V presenter and magician Steven Mulhern.
You’d think that a man with such an interest in magic should be able to sniff Sally’s tactics from a mile away, but fortunately for Sally and ITV he doesn’t.
Background research for Mulhern (via wikipedia, the most trusted source in the history of man) reveals only basic information about him and that “He was recently voted one of the most attractive men on TV in a poll of Gay UK teenagers.”
We plough through the same old cold-reading scenario that’s formula to such shows.
Sally starts things off with a safe bet, and says she can see his grandfather and then continues with some vague comments such as “Am I right in saying your Grandfather owned a nose on his face?” obviously this isn’t a direct quote, but comments similar to that are spoken.
After some confusing comments about property on the seaside (it turns out he lives on Brighton’s seaside, this had been changed from the original statement that suggested his Grandfather lived there) we move on to some textbook examples of shot-gunning cold reading.
Such names as “Brian” “Ian” and “Chris” are proposed in such a fashion that you’d think she was asking about general information, which ironically she is.
“Brian” turns out to be a relative of Steven’s who sadly for has passed, immediately Sally can see his spirit. The quote that help extract that accurate hit was “Who’s Brian, I don’t know who he is” which is odd for a psychic as she’s pretty much asking questions in an asserted fashion, but that’s all cold reading is. So she continues.
“Ian” is Steven’s cousin, but this is only established after Steven informs her of it. Steven then links this to the piano/ organ statement that was mentioned previously, Steven is doing the work for her.
Chris turns out to be Steven’s deceased father; she didn’t pick this up at all when she first “saw” his spirit guides. His mother is also deceased, again she didn’t pick up on it when looking at his “guides”, which is smoothed over with generic compliments of “oh she’s lovely”.
With the new information Sally gets a vision of “Horses in a field, next to a ditch”. Turns out to be an accident on the motorway involving Steven’s mother, why mention horses over the event? Steven doesn’t even seem to remember the horses. Thankfully Sally assures him they were there and that she is right.
This segment ends with Steven being “astonished” by Sally’s reading. I’m not.
The first part finishes with the voice over saying something along the lines of “After the break, find out why the cheeky girls are crying”. My guess was that it was either the following:
(1) They’ve heard their own music
(2) They’ve realised that they are untalented one hit wonders
(3) The skinniest one has fallen down that crack in the floor board that the family has been meaning to carpet over for ages, and the coat hanger they normally use to fish her back out with has been bent out of shape from previous rescues.
(4) After listening to their own music they realise they are untalented one hit wonders. So the skinniest one purposely hid in that crack with full knowledge on how redundant the coat hanger was.
(5) Sally got something vaguely right about their family member who had passed causing one of them burst into tears.
It was number five.
The next reading we see is very similar to that of Steven’s, so there’s no point in going through each point. We go through the same “Grandmother” and “Great Grandmother” routine to play it safe. In fact we see it throughout every reading.
With profound lyrics of “touch my bum, this is life” we can safely assume that the girls won’t smell out Sally’s bulls*it. This is affirmed when Sally gets an heirloom’s owner completely wrong, she was a generation out, but it’s ignored.
Their mother is introduced and insists on Sally seeing a picture taken from their aquarium that they believe is a face they are actually shimmers of light that have been reflected, and played on by the human knack of establishing imagery where there is none. They are identified as the mother’s aborted son and the aforementioned great grandmother, and everyone has a good cry.
The segment ends with a hug for the twins, which looks as if Sally is carrying two poles. For a second I think she is skiing.
What I found odd was that the readings Sally had given them were supposed to be as if she had never met them, even though there was cameras set up in the girl’s living room to capture the event. Obviously the film crew had set up before hand while Sally waited outside for a few hours.
Sally uses her powers to now give a reading over the Internet (a feature that was used in the last series) to a girl named Sarah. Unfortunately for Sarah her dad had committed suicide, what followed was a horrible account of a girl in tears explaining her father’s death. But let’s hear it for entertainment, as this is how the programme is described.
The segment lasted about ten minutes, but it’d be foolish to think that Sally was only with that girl for that time. I suspect they picked the best bits out of a longer reading, or told the girl to get lost after the ten minutes she’d been allocated.
What struck me as quite unusual is that the layout of the house was very similar at both ends of the computer, raising a belief that they were in the same house. It has been suggested that this stunt was pulled before by a member of the Badpsychics website.
Next we see Sally giving readings to members of the public in a quick built booth that’s somewhere inconvenient, like the middle of the road or a runway. Well it was a street. The booth is constructed so that Sally is unable to see who she is reading for, which causes her to relay solely on the person’s voice.
We are given three different readings, but no doubt there were a lot more. They probably took readings to last the whole series, and then picked the best.
The best comment by Sally was “I see a shop with hats in, and a workshop at the back” to a girl who then informs Sally that “her sister went to one the previous day”, that is scarily accurate. How could Sally know information like that?
By far the best reading is that of Richard Bacon’s, as he is the only one who has a backbone and shows some degree of scepticism, no doubt from when Jon Donnis dropped some knowledge from when he was interviewed by him.
Bacon doesn’t let Sally get away with much and it’s great to see her panic and get irritated when Richard says that he isn’t convinced.
She gets a lot wrong and suggests something to do with “Africa” and “New Zealand” but that’s it. Money is mentioned, but that’s a generic thing to say.
It turns out he has a series being set in New Zealand that’s coming soon. But he himself isn’t going out there although the tourist board have invited him. Africa is completely dropped, even when she is as specific as countries and continents she is still wrong.
Sally then mentions “Gran” “Nan” “Great Gran” as they are all safe bets and luckily his Gran is dead, giving her some information to run with.
She mentions a loch in Scotland, Richard calls her up on it by stating, “why would my Gran know that?” But she tries to turn it around.
Sally manages to score a couple of hits by saying that him and his girlfriend met in work. She says that Richard’s girlfriend wants children. Richards states that “doesn’t every women” to which she replies, “I ended up having three, I didn’t want any of them”.
I laughed in the thought that her children watching this are aware that they weren’t really wanted. My mother beside me says that she “ never wanted kids”. I die a little inside.
Perhaps the strongest hit is achieved when Sally starts mentioning property, and saying she can see “a number 15”. Which I originally thought referred to the house number, but when Richard say’s that this is wrong she changes it to “1.5” which happens to be the price of the house.
Bacon is still not convinced, I’m glad.
It’s time for Sally’s powers to be really “tested” as she’s going to do readings for murder weapons in a crime museum.
She does well, but what’s to say she hasn’t visited the museum previously. I really wanted Sally to get something completely wrong and imagined a situation like:
Sally - “This hunting knife was used to kill someone”
Museum Owner - “No, it was used to peel an apple a week prior to the incident and has no connection to any crime ever. I hate you and you’re life”
I suppose I can always dream.
Saying, “He killed someone,” while holding a knife is a pretty safe bet considering you’re in a museum of crime. It’s not a successful test. Considering she got the murder weapons and the affliction they were associated with completely wrong.
The show ends with Sally giving a reading for some snowboarding guy, who seems quite well known in the snowboarding scene. I only caught his first name that was Hamish and really couldn’t find any info on him over the Internet, although in all honesty I didn’t really look. She says that “you’ve spent time in hospital” but seems genuinely shocked to find out that he had broken his spine, how can you surprise a psychic?
She then mentions an “elderly” lady being concerned, but before she finishes the word “elderly” she substitutes it for old, this later turns into his older ex girlfriend. The original statement shifted from an older person, perhaps a Grandmother, to a girlfriend, quite a gap I think you’ll admit.
We also establish that February is important for them, my original thought was because of Valentines Day, but it turned out she (his ex) went snowboarding that day. How important, from the choice of birthdays, big events and even the day of his accident, Sally chooses to mention a day in which the couple went snowboarding.
She finishes by claiming that she is looking at a different person from the previous year, which to be honest probably refers to a lot of people, a years a long time for someone to change.
Hamish seems convinced, good for him, good for Sally and good for ITV.
Even though it’s a new series, Sally and her readings haven’t changed much. They are still vague and most of the time and more importantly they are inaccurate and vague.
We don’t need to wait for Sally Morgan or any other similar psychic to be radically exposed. As even through a medium that does it’s best to promote them, they still fall down.
I’d take her more seriously if she gave readings dressed up like a pantomime horse. Fingers crossed if there’s a third series.
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #9 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:20pm »
An Analysis Of A Sally Morgan Reading Originally Published on 2008/2/11
Many many months ago a self proclaimed journalist approached me demanding proof that Sally Morgan was a fraud, despite being shown numerous examples where she had cheated, lied and been caught out he simply refused to accept any of the evidence.
This person claimed he had received a reading from Sally and that she had told him things she had no way of knowing, he also claimed that it was not cold reading.
We agreed that he would give me a copy of the reading and in return I would show him exactly how she performed this miracle, he agreed. Unfortunately many many months later we were still waiting for this recording, in the mean time he had started a mini hate campaign on Youtube, posting ridiculous videos attacking me personally as well as this site.
Time after time he would promise to provide me with the recording, but time after time he broke his promise, and broke his word.
A time came where i simply didn't believe the recording existed and wondered if this was all just some bogus scam by a wannabe media personality to try and gain some free publicity off my back.
Now amazingly in what seems like a different life time, he finally handed over his reading to legendary Australian skeptic Richard Saunders, immediately Richard contacted me and said that a quick listen to the recording and he knew it was 100% cold reading.
Richard then sent me the recording which we have now transcrbed and analysed.
Before that I would like to apologise to him for doubting the recording ever existed, but upon listening to it myself I can now understand why he was so hesitant to hand it over.
For it shows some of the worst cold reading any of us here at BP Towers have ever heard. This is bog standard run of the mill stuff that makes Acorah in comparison seem like a genius!
I hope that after reading this that he can finally shake off his shackles of woo, step out of the dark and begin his life again as a proper sceptic.
All I would say is that you should not feel sad that you were fooled by Sally, nor should you feel embarressed, instead feel empowered by your newly found knowledge and experience, and turn that anger into passion.
Trascript and Analysis performed by Meercat Key: S = Sally W = Person who submitted reading
My comments are in bold type.
W: I’ve seen a tarot reader a long time ago in Australia and another woman about six months ago.
S: Oh okay, so I’ll just....
W: She wasn't very good
S: Oh what a pity
W: (unknown...)
An innocent enough statement, but now sally knows that [b]W travels.[/b]
S: I'll just briefly explain what I do, erm, buts its.. er, I call myself a medium and I would really describe that as someone who's in touch with the spirit world, I know that it can sound quite bizarre but that’s what I would say I can do, its ability, I don’t possess any power and its something that I've been able to do all my life. So really when I tell you (unknown) I don’t have to do anything to do it, it is just there. Erm, I'm also known as a clairvoyant
W: Okay
S: Which the true meaning of that is clear view, to see, and I see literally, and you've got a lady that walks with you, by that I mean that's she's passed over, and I can see her very clearly so she's related to you, (The standard Mediums line) she's sort of coming to check me out, but I have a great sense of her and she's sort of standing there. If one wanted to split hairs you could say cause I've got a view of her, I'm clairvoyant, I've no problem being called that but I would choose to call myself a medium, and another term that’s used is psychic (unknown) and you’re psychic ability is very heightened, (For some reason, Psychics like to tell everyone they're psychic as well...) very sensitive, there’s a side to you, you're very aware, your very good, a very good judge of character, although you're very trusting, at times when you were younger it would have got you into a lot of trouble, (Typical Barnum statement) and problems around you, but you’re, you’re, you've got no problem in, like sensing something, putting your finger on it, it might have been a bit difficult at times but if you went into a property you didn't like you'd certainly know about it. So that’s the tool that I use really to look into your life. You've, I don’t know if you’ve come in for specific reasons but I’m going to look at you life now and a look ahead for you, how does that sound?
W: Perfect.
S: Now do you wear a wristwatch?
W: I don’t, but I have one but I never wear it
S: Have you got, do you carry it with you all the time?
W: I always carry it
S: Can I hold it, that’s fine
W: Does it matter that I never wear it?
S: No, not at all.
W: I just always carry it
S: Ok
S: Erm, who's adopted? who do you know around you, someone in the family didn’t grow up with their parents
(A question, two questions in fact)
W: Not adopted, but someone was in boarding school for a long time ('making it fit')
S: Who's that (Another question)
W: My Father
S: Yeah (Agrees as though she knew that)
W: He wasn't adopted but....
S: And did he not know his Father very well... (another question)
W: Knew him but not until he was older
S: Not until he was older, yeah.. (Once again, agrees as if she knew)
S: Is the name Andrew there? (A question)
S: Or is there someone called Adrian? (Another one)
W: I can't think, no... (No Andrews or Adrian's then...)
S: There's someone in the family, that, erm..I can see where you're coming from... there’s someone in the family that has, erm, I think I've got your Grandmother here.. and erm, there’s someone who is still on earth plane who's still alive that didn't really know their birth parents. They might have known of them but they never knew them, were never around them..
W: Its possible, I wouldn’t know..
S: Well your Grandmothers is watching, your Grandmother is in spirit world and she's watching this person...
W: She's still, they're all still alive... (The Grandmother who is in spirit world, is actually very alive)
S: All your Grandparents? (Question)
W: Not my Grandfathers but..
S: I'm looking at a lady who is connected to your Mother, so if we took your Grandma, did your Grandmother have a sister who died, that passed? (A question and back tracking now to cover pretty drastic mistake)
W: ...no
S: Only it could be her Mother, we're going back a long way, but the lady is here, so, and you're Grandmother is still alive so there's a possibility I can see her Mother, if your Grandmother had passed then maybe I wouldn’t be looking at her Mum because it goes back another generation, but I've got a lady here which I can see your Mother through his lady, so that’s how I know its on your Mothers side, and as your Grandmother is still alive (But you didn't know that until [b]W told you[/b]) I think I may have her Mother. Is there the name Edith... (A question)
W: Not to my knowledge... no... (not the answer she was hoping for)
S: And there's no one called Edwina (Another question)
W: No, no... (Once again...)
S: I was going to say Eddie or Eady..but it's like an E and a D, there’s the name Edith here very much on your Mothers side.. (Add a few more names and hope to get close)
W: I cant think of anyone....(nope...)
S: Do you see Mummy a lot? Do you go... (Another question)
W: Once or twice a week..
S: So you're around her quite a bit.. that’s good (It is, but it has nothing to do with a Psychic)
W: You've got changes coming in your life and this lady here is very protective, there's changes in your Mothers life too coming up (Changes for [b]W and his Mother, two bases covered, 'changes' can be defined as pretty much anything[/b])
W: Hmm
S: And this lady in Spirit will be your Mothers Grandmother unless its an aunt, an elderly aunt.. (adds 'Aunt' now...)
W: I'll ask her the names...
S: But I think this is relevant to this lady, this name... and she loves you, she’s very erm, she's very precise sort of side to her and a bit sort of Schoolmarm'ish, when I sort of see her I you know, want to sit up straight and behave, she sort of had that persona about her and she's very much here to protect you and she says I'll take care of your Mother, so everything, now, your Grandma, obviously, she's an elderly lady, she's older than her own daughter of course, (This is an incredible observation, Sally knows that his Mums Mother, is older than her) so you'd think I'd want to go to her, but I want to go to your Mum, so your Mum might have a slight problem at the moment
W: Hmm, I cant think...
S: She might (unknown) that she hasn't told you... I could be wrong, but, its like I just sense this. If you mention this too her, if you dare to tell her you've come to see me, she might be able to confirm that for you, (Or indeed she might not) erm...lets just put the date down, its February 9th 2005, now, immediately as you sit here I go back to last October so that’s October 2004
W: Yes
S: A bit of change in life then, and if it wasn’t to do with work, or you could say business or your career, then it was definitely a different mindset concerning that or even...
W: Hmm
S: Or even, you could have been even concerned about where you were going with your future, where financial reward is concerned, well that completes itself in May of this year, so, from October 04 to May 05, erm, you could feel as though you're in no mans land, you could feel as if that you're not getting the answers you want from quite specific area and specific people, but its almost as if you’re communicating and what’s coming back is still leaving you sort of dangling. (Another Barnum statement) From May, everything changes, you've got a wonderful June and July, amazing... July is very liquid, its like finances and money in July
W: Hmm
S: Are just amazing for you... Who's Pat?... (A question)
W: You mean male of female?
S: I think its male...
W: My Granddad was called Patrick...
S: Yeah, he's here...he's here your Granddad, (Bog standard cold reading, throws in a name and waits for the reader to come up with the connection. Some sitters will come away saying "She knew my Grandfather was called Patrick" when in fact all she did was say a name) he's standing right next to me here, and he says "everything will be fine", he says, "tell the boy that in July... he can have whatever he wants, its just there." (So this spirit can say all that, but he couldn't say he was [b]W's Grandfather?[/b]) Do you sail? (A question)
W: ......I...
S: Do you ever go to the Isle of Wight? (Another question)
W: Not..I have connections.... I haven’t been for many years....
S: You'll go back to the Isle of Wight for something, and I’m looking at sailing , you think you'd be going to Cowes, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be Cowes, it could be some sort of harbour or bay, but I’m looking at sail boats, and I’m looking at boats, I know nothing about boats... (Sailing, harbours and bays, what's the chances of there being any of those on the Isle of Wight?...)
W: My Granddad was in the Navy... (Given up some information he really should not have)
S: Oh was he.... (Surely the 'Psychic' should know this?)
W: I've never been interested in it myself...
S: I wonder if erm... I wouldn’t know, its really ignorant of me, if the navy was stationed in the Isle of Wight, I’ve got no idea... But this year you could almost say, this grandfather, is it Pat that was in the Navy? (Keep up Sally... another question)
W: Yes
S: That’s interesting, because he's saying "tell him he'll go there, and I'll be with him", so its a bit like what you've just said, you're quite right, it's almost as if he'd have an interest too, something very important to do with the Isle of Wight of all places, how bizarre is that? (Well actually not bizarre at all) But being quite sort of specific which is good, I like to be like that then you really know when its going to happen, sort of not wishy washy. (Oh no Sally, not 'wishy washy' at all...) You also have Scotland in your life.. (define 'in your life'.... he owns a kilt?)
W: ....
S: Now that’s very feminine, it could have something to do with a girl...(or it may not...)
W: ...no....
S: Anyone called Emma... or Emily.. (More names thrown in the air)
W: Well there's two possibilities.. there’s a friend called Emma but I'm not close, and a sister called Emily
S: What, you've got a Sister...that’s her, its a sister I wanted then, Emily, that I want, its your sister. (Then why didn't you mention sister, rather than throw a couple of names at him?) This is your, I want to call your Grandmother but I think its your Great Grandma....(Don't forget Great Aunt) She's sort of talking about Emily and she's saying, yeah...(She's saying 'Yeah'?...) Well, I get, with Emily, I don’t know if I’m in this Country...
W: What do you mean by that?.... (Quite...)
S: Well I feel as if I want to go abroad.... Does she live here? (Another question)
W: She's erm, work, just about (unknown) moving to Japan...
S: Yeeeah.. Your Great..this lady's with her,(Ooops, almost forget then Sally didn't you? Best stick with 'this lady') she says "I'll take care of her." This lady is sent to look after the children. How interesting. (No, no it's not...) Was Mother brought up by her Grandmother? Or was she brought up by her Mummy? (More questions)
W: I think she was brought up by her Mum but she was close to her here Grandmother..
S: Yeeah....(agrees with him yet again)
W: We were a Catholic family, close knit...
S: Well why is this lady here, (You're the psychic Sally, why don't YOU tell [b]W[/b]) so involved with the kids? And she says to me "Emily will be fine when she goes abroad, everything, and its like quite a long period that she's away" (Once again this Spirit tells her lots of things, apart from who she actually is!)
W: Hmmm
S: And she says "if anyone wants to see her they'll have to make the effort and go out there" (The Spirits still talking, but saying little )...... Who's Anna? Or Ann.... (More names thrown about)
W: The only Anna I can think of is my Mums, well my cleaner but were not close, I just employ her....
S: You just employ her, yea.. but she, your Grandmothers glad that she's there (Oh good, his Grandmother, who isn't dead if you remember, is glad he has a cleaner...)
W: I have a sister who's middle name is Anne... (Trying to make it fit)
S: No this is Anna, like she's taking care of you, she's looking after you....
W: Its the only Anna I can think of, I mean we're not close, I hardly ever see her, just leave the money on the table
S: Good.. well, actually very pleased, your Gran, your Great Grandmother, (you should stick with 'this lady' Sally, it's easier to remember..) she says that’s good, she says, "she takes care of you, I take care of you in another way"... its so fascinating..(No it's not, [b]W has a cleaner he does not know, or really see, she cleans for him, that's not 'looking after him'[/b]) Is there a name Robyn? (Another question)
W: No not that I can think of.. (Shame...)
S: You've got New Zealand in your life.... You’re going to New Zealand.. (Holiday? Kidnapped?)
W: Carry on...
S: And you've got the name Robyn connected to it R.O.B.Y.N and it'll be a woman, a girl and she'll be very important in your life.. (A Woman/girl called Robyn who's going to be very important...)
W: What can you tell me about New Zealand then..
S: Well you'll settle there, and you'll have a son
W: A son..
S: Yeah, you'll have children, you'll have boys...you're going to have two little boys...(not a son now, two of them) you could marry someone who's a Doctor..
W: Gosh..
S: You're going to have the medical profession in your life, what do you do for a living? (Another question)
W: I work in radio, I was a journalist, I’m not here as a journalist, but I work as a radio news reading reporter (unknown)
S: Oh are you! You've got an amazing (unknown) like Tony Blackburn, how funny is that!
W: (Unknown)
S: Well that’s meant as a compliment darling, (laughs)
W: (Unknown) about New Zealand, I’m in the process of applying to emigrate there
S: Oh you'll emigrate, (Sally did not say he would emigrate, [b]W did, she said "You're going to New Zealand"[/b]) you'll marry someone called Robyn, with a 'Y'
W: I've never.... what else can you tell me about my, like love life at the moment..
S: Well your love life at the moment isn't going anywhere, by that I mean whoever you're with, its, its a none, its like its stuck, you're very much in no mans land, its not meant as a criticism and I'm not judging at all, but your whole being, all the energy that comes off you is in no mans and its like that, its not here and its not there. But then that goes with the fact that you could really see life somewhere else and immediately I just look at it and think Oh my God this is New Zealand... are you thinking about going to the North Island?...(She has a 50/50 chance of getting this right)
W: Yes, Auckland..
S: Yeeah, you're going to live there (Well he has just told her he wants to emigrate there)
W: It all depends if I can get work there..
S: You'll get work just like that (clicks fingers)
W: Hmm
S: Have you done some demo tapes?
W: Yes.
S: Someone’s going to love the demo tapes
W: Hmm, I originally wanted to move to Australia but..
S: No.. its not Australia, (because [b]W has told her it's New Zealand[/b]) well I know its not, there so close and a lot of times I get them, well I don’t think I get them confused, but someone can sit there and if I can see Aus then they'll say no its New Zealand, but with you I see its New Zealand.
W: I'm interested about Anna as I've always only had gay relationships (Bit of a bombshell for you there Sally, get out of that one)
S: Ahhhhhhhhhhh.... I wonder if Robyn then is a fella? (You mean the woman/girl that he's going to marry?)
W: Hmm
S: Isn't that interesting!........(No, its called a 'balls-up')
W: I know, its all ambiguous names
S: But you know, you'll have sons, one of them will be identical to you (Better stick with the children theme, even though you now know he's gay or you've just buggered up half the reading)
W: Oh dear, poor son...
S: Did you want children? (Question)
W: When I was younger I did, now I have no desire...
S: And it's quite interesting because... its like.. New Zealand maybe you wouldn't think its the end of the Earth you could say, although nowhere is behind us any more, we're all sort of equal cause it's instant access as you only too know like know only to rightly. (The Worlds worst sentence..)But I think that you're probably unlikely to have any form of facilities for gays to have children really, you’re looking more of that sort of in Europe or America, but I know you'll have.. the only other thing is, this is going to be a man, this Robyn, but its like very, very feminine (Ah! Good move Sally!)
W: I never rule anything out, you know
S: Yeah but I don’t, if I, that’s, I think... You've only ever had gay relationships, that’s going to be
W: Hmm..
S: But I think you'll have sons, but you might have, it might be a surrogate and you could have twins, and they're the twin boys
W: Intriguing...
S: And you know where you'll live? You'll live in a building....(not a tree then?) it really looks like a house, but you don’t have the whole house, its sort of split level.. and its like...erm....its brick....so it's quite solid...(brick houses are solid, excellent) but it's sort of on stilts, and there'll be one part there, and two parts over here, done that two big really (seems to drawing).... and you'll live sort of this part here...and someone else will live here..
W: Hmmm
S: And it'll be like on brick pillars...... I’ve never been to New Zealand...
W: A lot of houses are like that there
S: Well I’ve never been, so its, and I want you to know that because, its not like I’ve been there and I’m picking up something I’ve seen, I’ve never ever been there in my life. (She's never been to New Zealand so how could she possibly know they have houses like that? Of course, she also has no access to a television or the Internet and she's never read a book in her life...)
W: How long till I might move there
S: Well... this is really interesting because....May, your life alters dramatically in May, now I would like to feel, as this is how I see it, that, that is you moving up a gear, you could say wishes and dreams, and, this feeling of being in no mans land really leaves you, its almost as if what you’re aiming at, every single facet of your life alters. I don’t think for one moment that you could be there in May, you might not get it for solid, it might have it, but its almost as if you'll have dates and its almost as if its going to happen but you might not actually be there but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was about May or June (Even though she has just said "I don't think for one moment you could be there in May...)
W: Have you any idea what sort of career?
S: Oh, I think whatever you know... I really sense that,.. whatever you do at the moment you are exceptional at, and I think there's no doubt about it that, that is what you have going for you (Well that covers everything)
W: Yes..hmmm
S: But you'll definitely be with someone involved with the medical profession, maybe even in Pharmaceuticals..
W: Wow..
S: But how interesting.. if he's involved in that...then there might be the possibility that he knows how to go about getting a child...(What if 'in pharmaceuticals' means 'working in Boots'?...)
W: Hmmm
S: How interesting is that! (Keep saying it Sally, I'm sure it will be eventually)
W: That is!
S: You've got an amazing future
W: I hope so, I hope its a happy one
S: Oh yeah, whoever you're with at the moment.. are you with anyone? Have you got a partner? (More questions, Sally actually appears to know next to nothing about [b]W at this point[/b])
W: No, single
S: What did we say about Anna then, who's Anna? (Anna is the cleaner Sally, we've been here already)
W: I can only think she's my cleaner, but we're not close or anything
S: No, but it was to do with your Great Grandmother, giving me, telling me she's full of, how she's looking after you, it's interesting because the cleaner really takes care of things, I know you don’t really know her.... (Why the hell are we talking about a cleaner that [b]W hardly sees and doesn't really know?[/b])
W: Unless there's another Anna..
S: No, I don’t think its that... You'll be in a relationship and you'll be standing... I would say its a Church, but it might be...a building, that is.. Spiritual.. (Forget the cleaner, I think even Sally knows at this point it was starting to sound strange)
W: Yes..
S: And you'll stand next to someone and there will be vows that will be taken
W: Interesting... because I’m not usually good at commitments so...
S: No, but I think you're going to find someone where everything is just so perfect for you, and you'll be a long way from home, so its, its like... I think you're going to be very aware, although it'll be subliminal most of the time, almost sort of subconscious, it, you'll be very aware that you need to put roots down
W: Yes
S: And build a base, you’re not five minutes from home are you..
W: No..its a long way
S: Do you know what I mean... but you’re going to live there (Once again, changes "you're going to New Zealand to 'you're going to live there after being told by [b]W he wants to emigrate[/b])
W: I hope so..hmm that’s pretty good
S: Ermm... there, there, I think that, its interesting because I think something will be confirmed or it'll be like, this is how it'll be and then you'll get this amazing offer here, its a bit of a red herring in life, its like no ones deliberately putting it there except destiny to see if you’re serious about New Zealand, so don’t let it sway you from your choices. (Red Herrings, I love them)
W: So still go..
S: Who's Lee? (You tell us Sally...)
W: .....
S: Once again an ambiguous name, but I actually think its a man, I don’t think its a woman, (a good bet now that you know he's gay right?) but the name Lee around you and that could have something to do with property. Is there an oriental man around you? (Question)
W: Yes, but not called Lee (shame)
S: And is he something to do with property? (Question)
W: No..(unknown) (shame)
S: His names not Li... L.I? (Keep going Sally...*sigh*)
W: No... I don't know (unknown) property.... I know so may Lee's though, about five or six
S: Isn’t that funny, sometimes with names... (Hilarious)
W: I could narrow it down
S: No, names... its bizarre this... (unknown) in our life, I know lots of people called Val.. why? (I have no idea Sally, what has this got to do with [b]W?[/b]) Do you know what I mean! Its (unknown) God I know about ten! But I can see this name Lee, and someone oriental in your life and its to do with property. Do you own your property? (Question)
S: Yes, I do
W: You might not sell it, you could let it out, and you might find its someone oriental looking, not necessarily Chinese, someone that’s got a fantastic job, and you know, your money, its in the bank, no problem at all about it, and I think that’s its almost like an inside secure feeling of like, well, if I come back, I mean, I’m not saying you’re going to come back, but, you never, I think you're made for life there..(You don't sound so sure to me Sally)
W: You think I'll be successful there?
S: Yeah.... 101%.. You know (unknown) you could do, this might be a little bit.. this could be.. 10...15 years away, a long time (unknown) A long term..er..er..prediction..I've got so many words going through my head, people talking to me here there and everywhere... A long term prediction, and I don't normally do this but its there so I’m going to tell you it. But you could get involved with...erm.. agencies... you could have, you could become an agent, you could, you could book people, you could be...erm...a promoter..erm.. maybe some of those terms I’ve just used are a bit yucky, and there might be a better term, but its almost as if you could become very well known for having lots of contacts, people that are quite well known, famous you could say, globally, people could approach you, to book them (always good to make a long term prediction, with any luck in 10 to 15 years he'll have forgotten all about you)
W: Well!...I’m good with people...
S: Very good with people, I think also your communicative skills, well you could say its not even face to face that I’m even better. And I think that... you're going to have a little bit of money that, your, you're, you'll take a risk with something that will pay off big time that would never have paid off if you lived here. Its almost as if its a closed shop here, well that’s not radio for a start, so its something else, but it's got something to do with entertainment, stars, celebrities, VIP's whatever you want, and sort of like making sure that they keep to the deal, well you're not a Lawyer, so its like, you could become like an Agent, its bigger than that, maybe some sort of impresario..
W: What about politics?
S: Erm.... you could feel battered and bruised, if you, I’m not saying don't, I’m not saying you mustn't take a political path, but I think if you took that route I think that, if, what it is you see, your.. in you, (unknown).. you're a great humanitarian
W: Yes
S: And, you love the underdog, its innate, just natural, it just comes out of you, you're drawn to it, you know, even when you think to yourself I mustn't do this, this is ridiculous, I’m going to get hurt, it isn’t going to work, you're just drawn to it, you're right there, I can see where you're coming from with the politics, I just think you'll be very disappointed... I think you would find it,.... there’s too many bullies in it
W: Yes
S: For you...
S: I see a lot of Politicians, and you’re not a politician, but that I... its not a criticism, I mean, for you to take the knocks, that are there, I don’t, I think it would be very, you would find it... it would leave too many scars... You'd think what am I doing
W: I get battered quite easily
S: Yes, you'd get battered, you would be, you're very honest, there's a very truthful side to you, and politicians aren’t. They start of with their, I think an innocence, very grand ideas and very wonderful ways, and do you know, I think that’s brilliant, but very quickly their dreams are shattered. S: And I see for you.... and this is really nice to say this, I see your dreams not being shattered, so if you would say I’m going to be a Politician, I would say well that doesn’t run with what I see, because you'd have your dreams shattered there (unknown) but I’m not seeing your dreams shattered.
(A very long winded way of saying very little)
W: (unknown)
S: You've got Canada in your life too...is that connected...(Question) is there someone around you called Brian? (question)
W: Ryan...(No, she said 'Brian'...)
S: Ryan? Who's that (Well its not Brian, we know that much) (another question)
W: Sisters husband, Canadian
S: Yeah.....Ryan, I can see him (Of course you can, can you still see Brian though?)
W: That’s spooky!
S: I know darling, it is my work (Ooh, I'm getting shivers...)
W: Hmm
S: And its spooky I’m afraid (Yep, its uncannily accurate...)
S: I wish I was as clever as that
W: (unknown)
S: Darling I'm not clever its just, if that was being clever then I'd be worth a fortune, but its like its just there. Canada is quite important to you, and you’re going to go, but it will come in to your life, that’s the UK there, looking at the globe you’ve got America there, and Europe here, when you are in Canada, that’s when... when you are in New Zealand, that is when Canada will come into your life, you will go that way round, and, but it could be by radio (So, canada is not important because his brother in law is Canadian, well, that would be important for his sister really wouldn't it, Canada is important because of New Zealand. So why mention Brian? Sorry.... Ryan...)
S: Wow...
S: It might even be, and why not, a Canadian Company, that has links, or sister company in New Zealand and they give you a job and something that you’re going to specialise in on the radio, they want in Canada (or maybe 'Robyn' is a Lumberjack?)
W: (unknown)
S: Because, there's quite a French feeling with you as well and of course you've got French Canadian, you know what I mean, it fits in (French as well! So we have New Zealand, Scotland, Canada and now France. If he gets the full set he wins a decanter and glass set)
W: I’m off to Paris this weekend
S: Where you..working?
W: No, no no, just a trip, I did French A level and used to study there a bit..
S: Its quite interesting this, I’m sort of seeing France in your life, not because you’re living here, its almost like because you’re living in New Zealand. How bizarre (Oh, totally)
W: Maybe Robyn’s French, you never know (Or a Lumberjack [b]W![/b])
S: Yeeeah, maybe, maybe Robyn is French!......Yeeeah.... (Maybe he's having a baguette for lunch? I'm just helping, obviously...)
W: My Mother loves France
S: Your Mother plays a big, big part in your life, I can see her... Mummy’s got to watch..erm.. angina, a problem with her heart
W: Not to my knowledge
S: She has a very very long life, but she could just have her quality of life, changed slightly because she doesn’t pick up on something, if she gets pain here, its not her lungs, its her heart, if she gets breathless its not her lungs its her heart..
W: She does a lot of exercise...
S: Does she, does she monitor her heart, is she very fit?
W: Yes, very
S: Anything, if she starts to get palpitations when resting, she needs to have a doctor listen to her heart (Dr Morgan is in....)
W: Do you see my Dad anywhere
S: Yeah...It's interesting, when I see your Dad why am I getting a garden? Is he garden mad? (Questions)
W: Not at all, no. (Shame)
S: And is he having something landscaped? (Question)
W: No..no (Shame again, you don't have two dads do you [b]W? It's just Sally seems to thi... oh never mind[/b])
S: Have you got a photograph of your Mum and Dad..
W: No
S: And what’s your Dads first name? (Oi! Psychic! Is there ANYTHING you know without being told?)
W: Christopher
S: Yeah, who's Francis? (Question)
W: Nobody...(Shame)
S: And a girl call Frank...there is and its to do with your Dad (A 'girl' called frank?...Blimey...)
W: There's someone called Frank but he's not related...
S: How is he.. is he a friend?..
W: He doesn’t know my Father but...he knows me but not my Father (No Sally said it was 'to do with your Dad')
S: And how does he know you (Question)
W: He’s a friend, I’ve got a photo of a possible Frank
S: Have you, lets have a look... what does your Dad think about your friend, does your Dad know you’re gay?
W: Oh yes, he doesn’t really know my friend he's only met him once
S: Oh he's going to meet Frank ([b]Wjust said, he's met him once[/b])
W: If its that Frank, I don’t know
S: Is he a gardener? (Question) (A professional one? Or someone who just has a garden?)
W: Used to be...
S: Yeeeah!...(Agrees as though she SAID he was a gardener instead of asking)
W: What can you tell me about frank?
S: Well, this is really bizarre, I can tell you about Frank as I can see what your Fathers going to say, its like, when I talk about Frank its what your Fathers going to say (This is the same father you thought was garden mad and was having something landscaped? I'm not sure you know too much about him really..)
W: Hmm
S: How twisted! Its like... How upside down is that! (Crazy, crazy woman)
W: Is it definitely that Frank?
S: Why? Have you got another Frank? (More possibilities coming up...)
W: There's a Francis in Australia....
S: No...this is him. Where was this taken? (question)
W: South Africa
W/S: (unknown)
S: (unknown) What do I think of this frank? That... there's duplicity there, he can be two people...
W: Hmm, In what way, you mean...
S: Well, I think he would like to feel he could share his life with someone, he talks about that, but there will be no action... its like he could be swayed..its quite...its like it has a double meaning, its like he could persuade someone to change their life and then just dump them or just dump the situation, its a wait a minute, I’ve just done this! for you or us and he's like, well I never asked you too. (garbled). He's almost I could say... he could lead you, and then just drop the situation..
W: Is he a decent person?
S: Well I think deep deep down he is but he's very confused and very lonely, I don’t want to basically just analyse him because I’m not an analyst, but its a bit like, I don’t think your Dad would like him around you, and I think your Dad would be spot on with what he said about him.
W: Should I be careful of him?
S: Yes... and don’t tell him too much about... about.... keep your own council about (garbled) its a bit like you tell him you want to go to New Zealand and be very enthusiastic, and all of a sudden he could say well I’m going to New Zealand, and you'd want to think is that because I am that’s lovely we can be together (garbled) cant put my finger on it, there's something very odd
W: Is he a nice guy?
S: I think he is...no....hey, what’s a nice guy? I think he is, if we met him and it was just like (garbled) you'd think that’s a nice guy, but, people that are nice, once you get to know them, and their character (unknown) and they can be odd, I don’t mean your sexuality being odd, I mean his character.
W: I’m assuming that’s the Frank connected to my father, I’m assuming it is, I cant think of any Franks
S: Well its probably the Frank connected to your father because it'll be a frank that your father will see. Has your father met this man?
W: Briefly, about six years ago
S: And are you still around this man now
W: yes
S: He's not your partner is he? (I think we already established that [b]W is single earlier[/b])
W: No no
S: Nooo (Agrees.... but why, I have no idea)
W: A good friend, one of my best friends
S: Oh is he... he's a bit jealous of you
W: Not to my knowledge..
S: Well he is, he's envious of you... I can guarantee it
W: We get on well...
S: What’s he said about New Zealand? (Question)
W: He says its a good idea... as long as I don’t destroy all my options
S: Oh you wont... you'll gain...
W: I’ve got another photo of someone
S: Yep, get it out
W: Got two actually
W: That’s Frank again, but this one I’m interested in..
S: The guy here...
W: Yes...
S: Straight away I see America with him, I see the West Coast, L.A, California, what does he do for a living? (Question)
W: He's a motivational speaker
S: Oh, well there's a lot of them there, you know like, erm.. life coach
W: Yes, that’s what he is, more or less
S: Is got..is his name Anthony? (Question)
W: No.. (Shame)
S: And who is Tony? (Question)
W: .......
S: It could be.. it could be Hispanic...
W: Who, him?
S: No..someone connected to him, but he'll have LA in his life (Hey, what happened to 'Tony'?)
W: What’s he like as a person?
S: Well, I don’t think he's bad, but as a person I think that, he’s, very ambitious, and none of this is bad okay....once again not critisising, he's very ambitious and because he feels he's got to do it now, he's right really, he goes and gets it, and yes, he can, in his wake, leave a few casualties, but then can't we all. I look and and I think hey Sally , you know, there but for the Grace of God, you know (unknown)... But I think that.. he is..... he's going places.... I think that he would love to settle down.. but I think that .. he... there's a side, I’m saying this smiling a little bit, so, this is not meant really maliciously, but he could sleep his way to the top a bit
(What's the chance of a Life Coach and a Motivational Speaker being ambitious?)
W: He's not gay by the way.. (Better get that one in, Sally needs all the help she can get at this point)
S: No..But he's like, there's a side to him where he could do anything to get to the top. Now, he's a life coach, so its a bit like, you want to say, well, he should understand himself, but I don’t know if he does.
S: Will he achieve?
S: Well I think he will because he's got America in his life, land of milk and honey, so true, for people like him, and the line of work that he's in, they're all in la-la land, It'll be fantastic, (garbled) West Coast. Who's the guy in the blue shirt there? (Question)
W: That’s me... (Genius! Sally, the 'Psychic' is sat holding a photo of the man sat in front of her and does not know who it is...)
S: Were you not well here? (Question)
W: That was.. I had an eating problem at the time, that was five years ago now
S: Yeah you did... (Sorry Sally, did YOU say he had an eating disorder?...) Its like I look at this here and you’re in such a different frame of mind, and you’re like, not well, you were not seeing how (unknown) were you working? (Question)
W: No, no I wasn’t then, we'd just come back from South Africa and it was a reunion
S: Hmmm... you found yourself a bit in South Africa
W: I changed for the better since then
S: Well what you’ve done is... there's a calmness around you, a change for the better, you were lovely then...your no better now, what you are now is, you're more happier in yourself. There's a calmness... I would have said, knowing that was you, and knowing the situation I would have said, you were still maybe struggling.. with ..erm.. recognising you were going to be gay forever
W: It was a near thing for me though
S: Was it....
S: And yet you’re not bisexual? (question)
W: Not to my knowledge..
S: No...no you’re not (Agrees with [b]W on the information HE gave to her[/b])
W: I never rule anything out...
S: No, I never say never, but I truly don’t think you are, I think your lifestyle is perfect for you, and I actually think that one of the reasons that you have what I call the domino effect, because its already happened because you’re on your way to New Zealand, its like all the dominoes stand up and then destiny knocks one and its (makes noise of dominoes falling down) timing and there’s absolutely no doubt your in that phase, the domino, and that’s because your happy with yourself... I mean, we all have ups and downs, and there are going to be moments of doubt, that’s normal, you know, we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t have those, but on the whole, you know where you should be (blah, blah, blah)
W: Good, one more photo?
S: Yes, do get them out
W: This is the last one, its the only one I have of this person, believe it or not its a man.. him, and him.. I’m the other on in it..
S: Right.......erm.....
W: Its a party....
S: Right... the one in the... I’m just looking at (garbled) its not observational, but the one in the middle has been very badly hurt, he's on his guard, do you know him quite well? (Question)
W: Yes.. but only recently..
S: Because he's a lovely person..erm... who's Paul? (Question)
W: Would he be connected to me or him...
S: Yes..well, its like someone has been very hurt with the name Paul
W: I don’t know, I don’t know enough about him..
S: Did you have a boyfriend called Paul? (Question)
W: ..... I was dating someone called Paul
S: Oh were you..
W: In Australia
S: He's going to try and contact you again
W: We speak... we spoke today (Blimey she's good....)
S: Yeah, I can see him (unknown) Australia?
W: No, he's Spanish, not to my knowledge, I always ask him to come over...
S: A Paulo?.. (question)
W: I have a Paulo in Australia , but we're just friends, we're not...
S: He's going off to Australia this man in the middle, I know that by what I’ve just picked up (What HAVE you picked up so far Sally? It's just a never ending stream of questions)
W: Do you know when?
S: Erm.. well definitely 2005 and definitely before September
W: really.. wow..
S: What does he do for a living? (Question)
W: He's a lot older than me, he's in his 50's, believe it or not he's a drag queen and we're very good friends
S: He's a lovely person... and its about time he had success that’s what I would say, who's Richard? Is there anyone called Ricky? Or Ricardo that’s connected to him..(More names, more questions)
W: I'll ask him all of these
S: And he's going to know exactly who they are (Right....)
W: Do you see him successful?
S: Yes, he's got to go to Australia, and never ever look back, go to Sydney, and you will tell Paul about him, and Paulo about him
W: Paulo's met him...(oops..)
S: Well he should go over there
W: Paulo lives in Sydney as well.
S: Its just he'd never look back. This man here, he's not very well
W: That’s not the best photo of him I’ve got to say...
S: No, he's not very well, not observational, trust me on this, its what I , I cant put it into words, its what I sense. And I very much, when this was taken, I feel that in 2005, it might have to do with an older woman, I don't know if he's recently lost his Mother? (Question)
W: No..
S: There's not the name Khan is there? (Question)
W: That’s his surname. (A hit! But I'm betting the photo does not show Mr Khan to be a Filipino....)
S: Yeah... He could have a bit of a shock, to do with his Mum, it is not her death, (She's going to be a Zombie?) not her death, but... it is not her death, but.. it is...erm... it will effect her quality of life...(She IS going to be a Zombie!) The shock could come because he might not be in the same country when it happens (Oh, okay, maybe not...)
W: Can you tell me anything else about him?
S: Erm........ there's a lot of people he's estranged from...and its so sad..
W: He's fallen out with them?
S: Well, not.. is he gay?...(Question)
W: Yes..
S: Yeah... its to do with that (But you didn't know he was gay until [b]W told you, how do you know its 'to do with that?[/b])...was he married? (question)
W: No, no...
S: Well someone tried to fix him up.. (hands up anyone who's friends have tried to 'fix them up' at some time)
W: Yes..
S: He ran like the clappers..
W: Hmmm
S: Like that... he's a lovely fella
W: Will he have love? will he...
S: Oh Yeah!! He's got, cause you know why, cause he's quite easy going...like very laid back, its a bit like with him, you know (garbled) he's a nice man!
W: He is..
S: Lovely guy!.... I worry about.. he could be anaemic
W: (Unknown)
S: He is not, it is not, no HIV, okay.. it is not that, or leukaemia, it is like anaemia, my daughter, my youngest daughter suffers from it, he probably be.. its to do with your immune system being run down, as soon as you say that about someone who's gay I know what's going through their head, but it's not that , its something that can be cleared up by extra iron (if in fact it is an iron deficiency he has)
W: I’ll tell him that, any advice for him?
S: Yeah, he should (unknown) to his health, he should take kelp and zinc, and he should take extra Iron, but not just as a solid iron tablet, so it should be multi vitamin with iron in it so its just a small amount, okay, that’s just one advice for his health, (or perhaps see a Dr?...) he's, he's a person, this is lovely, he's (garbled) like taking to a brick wall, (garbled) he'll still be doing the same thing, (garbled) But he's happy! He'll come visit you when you're in New Zealand (Garbled) and he'll come out and he'll have a lovely holiday with you, and he's the sort of guy who say Oh I might buy a house here (garbled) but he's very easy going
W: Will our friendship last?
S: Oh definitely...
W: You've mentioned health, what about my health?
S: You're very, there’s nothing wrong with you..
W: So.. no HIV..
S: Oh don’t tell me that!....
W: (Unknown) I hope not, I pray.. I've never been tested
S: You don't need to be tested, I'm looking up to God here (So let me get this right, a 'Psychic' is telling someone they don't need to be tested for HIV?...)
W: (Unknown)
S: Well I'm looking up to God here and you haven’t got it ('God' has diagnosed him, and he has not got HIV, the rest of the reading is just laughable, THIS is irresponsible)
W: Good
S: Okay? So as long as you remain sensible with your partners.. you, have not got it. (Now surely there is the possibility of someone gullible actually taking this as fact?) And you’ve got a very very long life. The only problem you'll have is with your feet.
W: Not yet...
S: Well if you ever get like athletes foot..
W: I've had athletes foot
S: Yeah, well you'd really get it bad, and you must, oh this sounds a bit awful, but you must always wear shoes that are fairly new, never let shoes get old on your feet. If you’re going to wear trainers make sure your feet can breath easily, always wear cotton socks, or maybe cashmere, something like that is natural, and you don’t want man made fibres on your feet, if anything your money needs to be spent on what you put over your feet, and what they go in. (Sally changes from 'Psychic' to 'Doctor' to 'Chiropodist'....)
W: Going back to my dad....
S: Yeah..
W: I know I’m going round the houses here..
S: Absolutely, ask questions, cause when you go you'll regret it
W: My Father.. is there anything else you can tell me about him, Christopher...
S: Christopher, yeah, and does he live at home with your Mum? (question)
W: Yes
S: Yeah... is he mobile? (Another question)
W: What do you mean by that?
S: Does he walk...
W: Yes
S: You don’t think he's lazy then? (Question)
W: I don’t live at home so its hard, he has a job...
S: What’s he do? (Question... seeing the pattern yet?....)
W: He's a QC, a barrister
S: (unknown) how weird is that?.. (unknown)
Well he's commercial law, I don’t think he's psychic, you mean as a profession?
S: (Garbled, talking over each other) Well you're father loves you very much, there’s absolutely no doubt about that, and he does worry about you your Father, and there’s a bit like there's a distance, and, I don’t know if its got anything to do with your sexuality, I think its to do with since you were a baby really, since you were very very small, I think that...erm.. were you twins? (Question)
W: No..
S: What do you think the disappointment was? (Question, look Sally, he came to YOU for the answers...)
W: With him or me?
S: Well with him, like about you
W: Maybe I wasn’t as academic as he would have liked me to have been
S: No.. maybe. An I also think a lot of it was to do with, he could see in you from a very very early age that you were not going to following his footsteps, not that he would have said, "I want a son to follow in my footsteps" but he could see very quickly that you were not going to follow in his footsteps.. (A brilliant bit of Psychic work, [b]W has said he reads the news, OBVIOUSLY he has not followed in his Fathers footsteps[/b])
W: Was I a disappointment?
S: Well.. he would have said at times but would never have admitted it. Who's Nick? Nicholas? (More names, more questions)
W: His Brother?
S: Yeah... (Once again, Sally has NOT said his fathers brother is called Nicholas, [b]W has said that[/b])
W: What can you tell me about Nicholas?
S: Well that’s interesting because, how I sense the energy between you and your Dad, is how I sense the energy between your Dad and Nicholas
W: You mean a distance?
S: Well... I’m seeing two things and I've just got to try and explain it to you, yes, but no, I sound like Little Britain here, yes but no but yes a disappointment but it would be something he would be highly ashamed of admitting........ maybe even a hint of jealousy, because he can see in you, ambition that he never got a chance to look at... (He's a QC? He never had chance at ambition?)
W: He's done pretty well though..
S: Oh I know, (garbled) he's a QC it goes without saying, but sometimes people can have amazing things that really, that’s okay, its wonderful that they have achieved that, but they hanker after something totally different
W: I’ve been envious of him b....
S: Well isn’t that ironic, well there you go (No, it's not ironic at all..)
W: Cause he's good at everything, musician, sportsman (unknown)
S: Yeah, it comes very naturally with him
W: Is he proud of me at all?
S: Very proud of you, very proud of you, a bit amazed that you’re considering New Zealand. Now I know what your father does, no wonder he's not keen on Frank (Sorry, did we establish he's not keen on Frank?)
W: Cause he feels he's a little bit (unknown)
S: Well he just looks at Frank and doesn’t think Frank does you any favours, its like he wouldn’t impose his opinion on you, he's been a very good father to you...
W: He doesn’t really know Frank, he's met him briefly...
S: Yeah, but don’t ever underestimate your father, which I'm sure you don’t
W: No, he's a very bright spark
S: So, your Father could have met this man for two minutes and remembered everything about him (Yes, briefly, and six years ago)
W: What can you tell me about Nicholas?
S: Erm.. he makes me smile....So perhaps the level of the family, if you took the family and there would be a level, not in the sense of the word, it would be Nicholas. Is Nicholas a QC as well? (Question)
W: He's , a Councillor, not (unknown)
S: Well I think Nicholas is someone that, erm he knows, and I don’t want to take anything away from what he's achieved, he knows he could have achieved a lot more, he had the opportunities but he thought no, Id much rather do that, and that’s you..
W: Yes I understand that. Going back to my Dad, will my Dad be successful
S: Well he is successful..
W: Well, will he develop or...
S: With your father, your fathers a genius isn’t born a genius he’s like genius, and genius is always evolving, there’s always something that’s going to come along to challenge and that they reach the top in, so , your Father was actually born successful, born with erm, not just a silver spoon in his mouth but the ability (unknown) a couple on a housing estate, you know one was a dustman and the other was a cleaner, your Dad still would have achieved what he's achieved
W: Any more Family members some to mind?
S: Yeah, and you don’t have, there’s not an adopted child in the family? (Question)
W: No, not that I've been told
S: Yeah, I pick that up with you..
W: Am I adopted? No..I look really like my Dad....
S: No no what I’m picking up, its really interesting, is that you'll adopt, or that you'll have children, you know you're going to have two sons, you're Father will be very proud of you (Ah, I forgot, the twin boys...)
W: Little Kiwis.....
S: Little Kiwis! You will let me know wont you.,..
W: I will, Is there anything coming from Fathers family, Mothers...
S: Yes, well your Mothers family is there and you Fathers family is here
W: Hmm
S: Both of them protect you, both of them are saying how wonderful it is to see you... Is there the name Manny? (Question)
W: That’s really odd you say that, the last psychic, I’ve only seen one other psychic, the only thing, one of the things she said didn’t ring true, she said I had a spirit called Manny, but I have no idea who Manny is
S: Well he's here (is he really....)
W: She said I must know that, I have never, its funny you should mention..
S: Well Manny is on your Fathers side, there’s no one called manual, Emmanuel? Could you ask your Father..
W: Yes I will....
S: Cause Manny's here...he says, "don't you leave me out, tell him Manny's here" (But 'Manny fails to mention WHO he is. I would have normally given this a 'hit' but due to the fact that so far Sally has thrown in 26 names, I'm putting it down purely to coincidence.)
W: Well, that’s odd...
S: But you've got huge success, when you finishing filling out these papers then? (question)
W: Well I'm flying to Sydney, beginning of March and I’m to New Zealand for about two weeks to check out the work market and have a couple of interviews, than back to Australia for a couple of weeks, and then back here, finish all the paperwork and if I can get work I should get residency
S: Do you do a phone in show at the moment (question)
W: I read the news, but I'd love to do a phone in show
S: Well you’re going to do one where you speak to the public (A phone-in show where he speaks to the public? That'll be opposed to a phone-in show where nobody calls...)
W: Hmm.. well I read the news now....
S: But I don’t think you’re just going to read the news I think
W: (unknown)
S: Yeah...
W: Will I make it in New Zealand?
S: Oh God yeah... You'll have this amazing home, you are going to own this home, eventually you are going to have this massive home overlooking the sea, like the ocean..
W: Its amazing..
W: Anything else you can tell me?
S: I think we've covered everything...
W: I think we have..
S: You are just, I think you've got lovely friends
W: they are lovely people, I choose my friends well..
S: yeah.. tell Frank he must be very careful with a motorbike
W: I will
S: Does he ride pillion? with a friend (unknown) with a motorbike (Question)
W: He used to ride motorbikes when he was a lot, lot younger, going back 15, 20 years
S: Well there’s someone who has a motorbike and Frank will say, might say, lets have a go on it, he needs to be careful, he's not as agile as he used to be
S: Don’t go and have any tattoos, as you suffer from allergies
W: I was thinking about getting a tattoo hmmm
S: I think if you’re going to have a tattoo, its got to, you've got to really check out the cleanliness, what also the alcohol, I don’t have a tattoo, I don’t know how they do them really..
W: I do have a lot of allergies
S: Well the its the alcohol you're going to be allergic to
W: Well I don’t drink, I’m Tee total so.. (being tee total has little to do with having an alergic reaction to a tattoo)
S: Well (garbled) you could be allergic to, you could have an arm or whatever, go whoosh!
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #10 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:21pm »
Sally Morgan At The Billingham Forum - 9th May Originally Published 2008/5/14
I was recently contacted by Natasha, she was up until recently a big fan of Sally Morgan, that is until she saw her live on the second night of her tour at the Billingham Forum on May 9th 2008.
We find out how after talking about her self for much of the show, the crowd finally turned on Sally Morgan.
The following includes opinions from myself and Natasha:
Natasha tells us that at the start of the show Sally described where she grew up and how she became a psychic. Then on the TV screens a pre recorded interview with a celebrity was shown.
Before the show started you could write a question on a card for Sally, and they would be put in like a tombola thing to see if they got picked out. But when she picked them they were general questions like will my career change etc, which she just gave a basic answers on which anybody could do.
She told a pregnant woman she'd have a girl, well there's a 50/50 chance shes going to get that right, and of course no way of finding out that night.
One woman asked if she'd ever be happy again, and she just said "you will if you let yourself be" again another general answer.
Things started to get strange though when Sally revealed that 6 random people had been chosen to record a question on camera for Sally, the Forum holds 600 people, so thats 6 out of 600. These 6 would get a reading from Sally. However the claims this was random was purely fiction, but no one was asked when entering to record anything.
People started complaining that nobody knew you could record a message and nobody told us either when we went in, it was revealed that they only recorded 6 people and they were the 6 that were chosen. Hardly a random selection which was what everyone was led to believe.
During the show Sally threw out random names which people would make fit, this was typical cold reading and was never gonna convince anyone, not even the hardcore believers.
Sally also showed her interviewing Richard Bacon because he was a sceptic almost trying to prove she changed his opinion, but as Sally herself admits her TV show is heavily edited, and from my own knowledge of Richard Bacon, he is a firm sceptic, and does not believe Sally Morgan is psychic.
Towards the end they showed a big picture of Princess Diana and Sally invited people to ask anything about her if they wanted.
Unfortunately for Sally nobody had any questions as they simply weren't interested.
It was at this point that the audience started asking questions about the way the show was run and how they weren't there to hear about her, to which she spent the last half hour of the show defending herself before ending the night.
Natasha describes the show as "a waste of money"
She also tells us "i wouldn't say she told anybody anything special, it was all general phrases which could apply to anyone and anything. When she knew she was getting everything wrong with someone she would say oh I'm getting something over here and shoot off to someone else."
So there we have it, a total disaster for Sally, the crowd turned on her after an abysmall show, so were you there that night? Were you one of the people that spoke up? Please let us know.
I will leave you with Natasha's final comment
"I was really disapointed as like I said I WAS a massive fan.
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #11 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:23pm »
Sally Morgan At The Billingham Forum - 11th May
we are back at The Billingham Forum, this time on the 11th May, and things just aren't getting any better for Sally Morgan.
This time I was contacted by Rachel C. who says "I was disgusted" and "It was terrible " Below is the report Rachel sent to me:
I saw Sally Morgan at the Billingham Forum on the Sunday 11th May evening performance.
It was absolutely terrible.
Sally showed lots of clips of her TV programme, clips that the majority of the audience would of already seen.
She passed on no real messages to anyone and spoke to very few people directly.
She didn't get anything correct really, just throwing out random things that didn't seem to mean anything to the people she was speaking too.
We went back in for the second half but after it began to get even worse we left. People had started giggling while she was speaking to others as she was giving names etc and people were just having to say No no no!
It was embarassing and when I think that she did 4 shows at the Forum probably taking over £50,000 on the door it is infuriating that she can get away with it.
I was disgusted.
The worst part was when Sally spoke to a man who had pretty much explained that his father in law had died from a long illness and his question to Sally was "Did I do enough?"
Sally then went on to talk nonsense about how he washed him etc which was pretty obviuous but this big guy was in tears and I realised that although my friends and I had been giggling along, it actually wasn't funny, it was real life and real heartfelt devastating emotions and she was just messing with them to make money.
I was very down the middle in my beliefs, but Sally Morgan has definitely pushed me towards being a non believer in a spirit world.
It seems that Sally is doing a better job of turning believers into sceptics than we could ever do. Keep it up Sally and you will end up on the scrap heap with the likes of Joe Power and Simon Peters.
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #12 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:25pm »
Sally Morgan At The Grimsby Auditorium - 16th May
I recently reported on a Sally Morgan show at The Billingham Forum, the result of which was an entire audience turning on her, and openly criticizing her awful perfomance.
I asked for more reports from that show, but even better than that is a separate report from another show which shows Sally was just as awful as before.
This time at The Grimsby Auditorium on the 16th of May, we hear from Tracii Lydia who visited the show with her 60 year old mother. And she was even less impressed than the last report.
I have decided to simply reprint exactly what Tracii emailed me, as I believe it tells the whole story.
Again if anyone reading this was present at this show or any other, please let us know of your experience.
I have put in bold letters a small part of the show near the bottom, it is without doubt one of the most disgraceful and downright evil things I have ever heard a psychic do. <HR> I have never been on a site like this before, I have never before felt compelled to, let alone to write.
But I took my mum last night to a "show" in Grimsby last night with the 'star psychic' Sally Morgan.
Its not something I've ever been to before, but I had seen her show on TV, and she seemed the best of the ones on TV, so when I got the opportunity for front row tickets for her show I asked my 60 yr old mum to go with me.
I've always had an open mind about these things, not particularly believing but finding myself unable to explain some things, so not totally dismissing.
I saw Derren brown a couple of months ago, and I was blown away by his ability to read people accurately and consistantly which just amazed me. His openess about the myriad of techniques he uses was refreshing and made me question the tv shows i'd seen.....but still i went to Sally's show with an open mind. As this was the woman that according to her show got hit after hit.......
At first she presented clips of her tv program, and told us lack lustre stories of her childhood.....some that never seemed to go anywhere or indeed have a point.......
The cynical side of me hoped we'd get an evening of at least good 'reading' of people (ala derren brown), or indeed part of me was hoping to be astounded by this namedropping 'star psychic'............
She kept saying all evening that the stage was 'electric' tonight....... the only electricity i witnessed was from her, was where her built up trainers were reacting with her see through polyester trousers.........
If it had been a darts match, she would never have even hit the board let alone scored....
She answered vague questions from a few audience members that she pulled from a tombola machine.....
Will things get better? Is my job move a good one?
that sort of thing...when she tried to give specific things to people, at least 99% would say "no thats not right", or "that means nothing to me". It started to become quite funny. I found myself sniggering and covering my mouth as her 'psychic' ability kept falling short of any target.
When she did get anything vaguely correct, she milked it for all its worth. But the things she got close with, any person with half a brain could of guessed....for instance when you are faced with a lady who looks old enough to be a corpse, suggesting her mum has passed is hardly psychic...more a law of averages and life expectancy...
The amount of "would you belive it?", "isn't that lovely?" and telling people they are "lovely people", is not a demonstration of any unexplained abilities....
Having being sat at the front and trying hard not to laugh out loud (and failing at times)...meant i was (according to my mum) shot quite a few daggers from Ms Morgan on the stage. Her display of lack of any ability (whether psychic or cold reading ability) would have continued to be hilarious had it been harmless.
During the interval people were openly talking about how awful they thought she was and considering this was not a comedy gig, i hadn't laughed so much in ages.
Mum suggested we leave and go home during the interval...we live in Boston and its about an 80min drive home....but i said lets give her a chance ..she may get better, at least i'm laughing...
We went back in, Ms morgan had changed her silky marquee sized jacket and continued as she had left off before......
I'm not being sizest, but think i should have hauled my fat backside on the stage and given this psychic lark a go at this point. She'd had my money for our tickets (yes, more fool us, i know....but at least i do know now...i've seen it myself, and now i have no doubts about how to spell and apply the word charlatan!)
However, the second half of the show became unpalatable.......
I still laughed as she got things spectacularly wrong and then just brushed over it and said the spirits were taking her elsewhere....everywhere else she went within the auditiorium she had continued her run of "nil points"
The tone for me changed when she answered one womans question about her son and his family emigrating..... the way the woman worded it, it appeared one of those just confirm it to me and make it real questions....are they going to go? but the tone was defeatist if that makes sense? like 'i know they are going....i believe they are, but could you tell me...are they really going?'
That was easy to answer as the woman had answered it for her really...then the woman asked in a sad tearful tone if her grandson was ok now.......... we'd pretty much established the generational ages of this womans family....she was about 60, her son in his 30's...
This in mind sally's first reply was 'why can i hear crying?'.........well a child had died...a good chance a lot of tears had been shed at the time and since...
The woman said 'he was a baby when he died thats why'.....she was ready to cry at this point, you could see from the screen she was trying hard not to break down.
Sally then proceded to big up herself and how accurate she was, and continued with vague stuff, that the woman could not and did not verify, like the baby had a headache.....how many babies talk? there was no cause of death found (cot death i think) the Grandmother told us all........Sally drivelled on, then told her that this womans nan had the child in her arms........
Well given the fact this woman was in her 60's, the law of averages and life expectancy would mean this particular person had probably died anyhow.....
nothing startling, no revelations, nothing specific...
I would have laughed but this lady was obviously in terrible pain and to see this woman use this to demonstrate just how dreadful her skills were was shocking.
Then there as the woman who asked Sally 'did her mothers pain go?'....and then the woman told Sally her mum was involved in a fatal accident where she was pulled under the wheels of a lorry......this woman was obviously traumatised by the thought of how much pain her mum would have been in and to have died in such an horrific way. her voice wavered, she was searching for answers and i guess a little peace.
Yet again nothing specific really......but the most abhorrent part was when she just threw in the name Carol or Caroline....the lady said it meant nothing (like so many had said that night!!)....and then sally said "oh no its not that, she saying she was carried by the lorry...."
WHAT A CHEAP SHOT
That was enough for me, there were real people with real pain desperately looking for answers, any answers.... i'd never seen this sort of thing before, and i'll never willingly go again..
I gave it a few minutes more whilst she moved on to more people throwing in names to vague areas of the auditorium in the hope of a response
I turned to my mum and said "i'm off, i can't listen to this s**t anymore'...and i got up out of my seat and held my head high and walked out of the theatre, my mum followed behind seconds later.......
I know i wasn't the only one who thought this, but i felt better for making the decision to give this woman not another second of my time....
We told the duty manager on our way out that she was beyond awful, possibly beyond contempt also....she said that she had had a lot of complaints in the interval also...... i'm guessing there won't be a second tour any time very soon...
My mums a mild mannered Irish lady, but our 80 minute drive home she swore like a trouper when she spoke about sally (very out of character for my mum)..... and i don't think we'll be the only people now firmly non believers!!!
Surely psychics are meant to make people believe...Sally may just have bucked that trend!!!
So i guess it could be helpful for those who aren't sure what they think either way....
Go see this overblown and overbinged dinnerlady in stack heels and polyester...and see if your mind is changed as spectaculary as mine and my mums were....
And next time save the ticket money to see Derren Brown and have an experience of a lifetime instead
So there we have it, another independent report from a Sally Morgan show, and it seems this was as bad as the last one we reported on.
Sally Morgan is an evil, dispicable woman, preying on the vunerable and grieving.
I would advise anyone who has had the misfortune of witnessing one of her horror shows to contact where you got your tickets from and demand your money back.
Don't stand for it, you have paid for a service which is not being provided.
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #13 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:26pm »
Second Report Of Sally Morgan At The Grimsby Auditorium - 16th May
We have yet another report of one of Sally Morgans truly awful perfomances.
Julie Carter went to visit a Sally Morgan show after being amazed by Sallys apparent accuracy on her TV show. Unfortunately believer and fan Julie found out what many others have, and thats that Sally is about as psychic as a piece of cake.
Some quotes: "why she was Rubbish Beyond Belief" "the same deceit & lies" "I lost my temper with this patronising, condescending con woman" and "SALLY YOU ARE A DISGRACE & AN INSULT TO PEOPLE WITH INTELLIGENCE."
Read on to find out the full story In what is becoming a regular feature here on BP we have yet another person complaining about Sally Morgan. Below you can read in full the experience of yet another disgruntled customer and now former fan of Sallys <HR> SALLY MORGAN ON T.V. – Absolutely Amazing. SALLY MORGAN ON STAGE – Rubbish Beyond Belief!!!!
What is going on here?
After watching Sally’s TV. Series my friend Richard & I both felt that she was the best psychic that we had ever seen on TV. We never doubted the integrity of the producers when they said that Sally had no prior knowledge of the people that she was going to read. So we looked forward to one day seeing Sally.
We had taped Sally’s TV shows & lent them to my friend Jackie, telling her & others that she proves beyond doubt that there is life after death. We sang her praises & long last finally closed the door on the remaining scepticism regarding the after life. When we booked our tickets to see Sally in Grimsby Our friend Jackie came too.
On arrival we were given small cards to write a question to Sally. Both the examples were questions relating to how things would turn out in the future which did seem a bit odd. If we hadn’t been amazed by Sally on the TV we would have been suspicious as telling the future doesn’t prove that the medium has any psychic ability. Richard mentioned later that he wondered if we were supposed to believe that those on the other side knew the future? Whilst we were waiting to go in a man came to me & asked if I Would like to ask Sally a question on video that may get shown to the audience. “Wow” I was so excited at the possibility of getting a reading.
Sally started the evening with a fairly long talk about herself growing up which was accompanied by photos. I found this to drag on way too long. When she next showed some clips from her TV series I wasn’t happy, as I had come to see her give readings.
Once she started the readings I sat in utter disbelief, as more & more people said “NO” to her statements. Each person also had the video camera on them so that they could be seen very clearly on the big screen.
I watched as she said a name to someone & when she saw them looking confused or shaking their head she either changed or twisted the name to mean something completely different or cut the reading off & quickly moved on to someone else.
I was getting angrier & angrier at the total charade of this woman who obviously wasn’t concerned that she was exploiting & conning some very vulnerable people.
My blood began to boil and before the first break I had to walk out before I started shouting out. Jackie & Richard came out soon after & we all agreed that she was Absolutely Crap. Jackie wanted to give her a second chance in case it was just nerves at being with such a large audience.
I felt that if she was genuine & that was the case she would have apologised, stopped the show & offered a refund to keep her reputation. Richard & I agreed to go back in but I was just hoping that she would choose my video question so that I could ask her why she was Rubbish Beyond Belief.
The second half was just the same deceit & lies.
A very distressed woman asked about her recently deceased brother & Sally got it all wrong again. The woman ended up telling her most of what happened & Sally asked if he died in the car, to which she said no. Next Sally asked if he died in the ambulance & the woman said that he died in Hospital.
I couldn’t stand much more of this & was getting ready to walk out again before I lost my temper with this patronising, condescending con woman. When she lied to an extremely distraught woman about her deceased grandchild I couldn’t stay one more minute & marched out.
Surely somebody out there could investigate the making of her TV series as in my opinion it had to be rigged. SALLY YOU ARE A DISGRACE & AN INSULT TO PEOPLE WITH INTELLIGENCE.
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Re: Sally Morgan « Reply #14 on Oct 15, 2011, 5:28pm »
Robert Chalmers Interviews Sally Morgan In The Independent On Sunday
Not sure how I missed this, but in todays (28th September 2008) issue of The Independent On Sunday, friend of the site Robert Chalmers interviewed Sally Morgan.
Instead of the usual pap interviews we seem to see with psychics, Robert gives Sally a good grilling and even questions her regarding some of the claims on this very site.
Robert also receives a reading from Sally which is rather interesting, but after talking to Richard Wiseman, it seems another explanation may be more plausible than Sally actually being psychic.
But what is without doubt the most interesting part of the interview is where when asked about a specific occasion where we exposed her, she actually blames her director! Yes folks, Sally blames her shows director for MAKING her tell lies on her TV show!
Sally Morgan is a psychic to the stars whose clients have included Uma Thurman and Princess Diana. She has her own ITV show, premium-rate phone line and a waiting list of 72,000. But while many are convinced she has The Gift, others say they can do the same thing by using Google...
Interview by Robert Chalmers Sunday, 28 September 2008
The house is in silence. There are no lights on, no vehicles in its drive, and no signs of recent occupation, except for a small mountain of wine bottles spilling over the recycling bins, topped by a magnum of Veuve Clicquot champagne. For a moment I think I must have come on the wrong day; then I remember what Sergeant Bilko said to colleague Rupert Ritzik, when they went to consult a medium for gambling advice, in an episode of The Phil Silvers Show: "It's very quiet. The blinds are closed. Nothing is moving. She must be in."
Sally Morgan answers the door herself.
"Hello, Richard," she says: an apparent mistake which immediately arouses uncharitable suspicions that she has been Googling my name all day, in preparation for my psychic reading."
"Robert."
"Robert, sorry."
As a former dental nurse, she puts you at ease immediately; her voice and manner have something of Barbara Windsor's no-nonsense conviviality, and when she was young, in her native Fulham (then a working-class district) I don't imagine she ever dreamed of winding up here, in this tranquil Surrey crescent. Neither would you guess that Sally Morgan, whose autobiography was published on Thursday, has recently joined the ranks of Britain's most popular psychics; one of the few, along with more established figures such as Derek Acorah and Colin Fry, who can attract audiences of 2,000 for public readings. (In accordance with recent EU regulations relating to the legal definition of a psychic, Morgan's show is preceded by an announcement stating that the performance is for entertainment only.) Her personal clients have included the late Diana, Princess of Wales, Uma Thurman and the wife of Art Garfunkel.
But major stars, the medium argues, are of no more interest, in psychic terms, than any other sitters.
"The biggest compliment I've been paid," says Morgan, who is 57, "is not that I'm Britain's most accurate psychic, but that I'm Britain's best-loved psychic. Because there's a lot more to my work than just getting the hits; accurate pieces of information, I call them hits."
Criticism of her work, she predicts, "is going to grow, the bigger my career gets. People say, if she is a medium, why does she wear satin coats on stage, and sparkly glasses? I am a woman. If I'm going on stage, I want to wear a party frock."
The idea that people might think her crazy – or, as she puts it, "a nut-nut", recurs in her conversation. Actually, her critics have focused less on her sanity, more on her methods, especially as applied in the ITV series Star Psychic. Dead people she has channelled include Marilyn Monroe; her television client list has been rather more modest: it includes Emma B (ex-girlfriend of E17's Brian Harvey and model for Ann Summers), soap actress Linda Lusardi, and Darren, who plays wing attack for an amateur basketball team in Essex. One contributor to the website badpsychics.com recently commented that: "I think the phrase is: celebrity psychic, my arse."
A clip of her show appeared on Harry Hill's TV Burp. Morgan was reading for Emma B, whose identity, she insists, was not disclosed to her in advance.
"I can see a black background and pink underwear," Morgan tells her. "And the name 'Ann Summers.'"
"I do a lot of their press and PR," her subject replies.
"Do you?" asks Morgan.
"Yes. You can look up a lot of information about me on the internet."
"Yeah," interrupts Hill, imitating Morgan. "I might do that, a little bit later on."
Sally Morgan's own website advertises telephone readings, available for £1.50 a minute or £29.99 for 20 minutes (£1.50 per additional minute) with one of her "hand-picked psychics". You can also invest in a "psychic text" for £1.50.
She says a telephone reading can be "90 per cent as accurate" as one done face-to-face." But the medium asks people like me, who have the opportunity of a personal reading, to bring photographs of family and friends. I ask her to conduct the reading at the beginning of our meeting, to minimise the information I might have given her in advance.
Skeptics use the term "cold reading" to describe the technique of tossing out a series of common names and other images, leaving the sitter to seize on a small percentage of statements that seem to "fit". At its crudest, this "scattergun" method will begin with a question ("Who is John?... it could be Jack ... Or James. Jamie? Jackie? Jackson? No? Well, maybe it's a place? Jamestown? Jamaica? Jacksonville?") The medium will typically suggest situations ("You worry over money"/"You are thinking of writing a novel"/"You are quite psychic") that many sitters are likely to identify with.
I have had some coaching from Dr Richard Wiseman, professor of Psychology at Hertfordshire University. When it comes to modern British psychics, Wiseman, formerly a professional magician, fulfils much the same role Harry Houdini played in the life of occult enthusiast Arthur Conan Doyle.
The professor says that he has yet to see a medium come out with any information that couldn't be explained by normal means. "In the vast majority of these situations," he says, "the sitter is doing most of the work."
Sally Morgan, her supporters argue, is different. She has a genuine gift; and, looking at her cuttings file, she has undeniably converted at least one tabloid journalist from hardened skeptic to such a level of enthusiastic endorsement that it would be no surprise to find him selling Morgan's merchandise in the foyer at her next appearance.
The medium uses no crystals or other props, nor does she affect an otherworldly tone when communicating with the dead. She begins with a series of observations that are broadly general, but accurate to a point that, in one or two cases, I find uncanny. She tells me I am unhappy in the kind of flat countryside that dominates the south-east of England and would be more at ease among mountains – a widely shared feeling, I'm sure, but one which I admit to articulating more regularly than friends might like. She says that a central character in a novel I am finishing has an Iranian background, as they do. She adds that somebody from Iran is going to change my life forever, and seems to imply that I could relocate to that mountainous country, to which I can only say, no plans as yet.
"Does the name Boz, or Baz, mean anything?"
"No."
"Oz?"
"No."
"Have you recently done an interview with Gascoigne?"
"No."
"It needn't be Paul Gascoigne... it could be Bascoyne... it could be a place..."
"No."
"Caroline?"
"No."
"You have problems sleeping."
"I was up at five this morning. One look at my eyes could tell you that."
"No. It's to do with your thought patterns. I see you as a twin. Were you a twin?"
"No."
She gives plausible but fairly generalised character sketches of my wife and her younger sister; there's nothing that would impress Wiseman. And no names. But when I show her a picture of an ex-girlfriend, suddenly Sally's on fire.
"People might say: 'Oh my God. This girl is a nut-nut.' I get very sad when I look at her. It's as though everything she thought was there just slipped through her fingers. Some people deliberately destroy relationships before they have run their course, because they think they are going to end anyway. She has that feeling about her. There is a bit of a mental side to her."
"I'll say."
I show her two photographs of my friend, the artist Ralph Steadman. In one he's alone, in relaxed mood, adjusting his fez, towards the end of a longish pool party. In the other he's with Bill Murray and Johnny Depp (who has his back to camera) at a bar counter in Aspen, the day after Hunter S Thompson's memorial service. She doesn't pick up on, or recognise, either of the actors.
"He [Steadman] is a sensible man," she tells me, examining the fez picture. "He is a good man but he is feeling pressure at the moment. With him, what you see is what you get. He has a kind of Mediterranean ability to love and to be open."
These are surprisingly accurate, if broad, observations. Morgan fires out more first names, such as Peter and Lesley, none of which relate to me – though, as she says, they might do in the future. '
"You have a sister, don't you?"
"No."
She picks up a picture of my parents with my brother. She asks whether my father is dead.
"Yes."
"He is showing me his left hand. There is a chain in it; could be a key-ring. He says he realises now that he was claustrophobic, but he didn't realise it at the time."
(I'd say, from my experience, that this last assessment is correct. Very bizarrely, I had a conversation on this exact subject, with my brother, a couple of weeks ago.)
"He is saying her name." She points at my mother. "Joanie. Joan..."
"Bloody hell."
"Is Joan in spirit?"
"No. She's in Manchester."
"Joan and... Michael John. Who's Michael John?"
"That's my [only] brother."
Most of her other statements would require some leap of faith by the sitter: my father worked at a chain factory, for instance, something which a confirmed believer might seize on. But the names, as I would tell Richard Wiseman afterwards, constitute something of an atomic direct hit. I'm not on sites such as Facebook, MySpace or Friends Reunited. As far as I'm aware, the only information about me in the public domain is on book jackets, where it says that I grew up in Manchester. And of course Morgan doesn't know me: she actually reminds me, at one point in the conversation, of how, earlier on, she accidentally called me Richard.
"These comments sound very interesting," Wiseman tells me. "They are unusually precise. Three names in a row, including a middle name. Of course, when psychics get those kinds of hits, logic tells you that it is either chance, or that they are an extraordinarily gifted medium, or have found out the information in some other way."
"Or I am a credulous goon."
"Correct. To evaluate these types of readings, you have to rule out any normal explanations, so it is always important to find out if that information is publicly available. Because if you can't find it on the internet, say, then that is extremely impressive. If you can, that's another matter."
"What about the claustrophobia?"
"The question there is, how many other people could make sense of that, in a reading? It is a classic case of her firing an arrow and the subject drawing a target around it."
"It seems absolutely extraordinary to me."
"But the value of the reading depends on what percentage of people would be impressed by it, and that can be extremely difficult to figure out without proper scientific testing."
There is, Wiseman adds, what some proponents call "the super ESP hypothesis: that she is not actually communicating with the dead, but in touch with information that is in the world, and doesn't know it. Like a kind of unwitting psychic Google." I ask Wiseman to see if he can discover any of the information by orthodox means.
"Where," I ask Morgan, "do you think skeptics would say you got those family names?"
"They'd say I was guessing."
"Or that you'd found them online?"
She laughs. "Why would I want to do that? I am my own biggest skeptic."
("Not," I can hear a professorial voice saying, "as long as I'm alive.")
Sally Morgan was born Michelle West, in Fulham. Her father Derek, she says, was extremely violent towards her mother Beryl and to Michelle, who changed her name to Sally before she was in show business. She grew up with a stepfather, Pat Thatcher, and recalls a childhood of quarrelling and stress.
"You didn't mess with him," she says of Thatcher.
Her mother, she remembers, used to strike her with a hairbrush till her scalp bled. She met her current husband John, who occasionally wanders into the kitchen while we're talking, in 1973. He tells me that he gave up a job "in sales – helping a friend with a greengrocery business" to support his wife's career six years ago. They have two daughters, Rebecca and Fern. Her first child, Jemma, was born following a brief marriage to a man Sally refers to by the pseudonym of Brian. She has been estranged both from her mother and Jemma for 12 years, following a remark a family member made about the medium. (She refuses to discuss this, for fear of being sued; her publisher's lawyers cut the allegation out of her book. The most she will say is that there is no suggestion of abuse or other criminality.)
"Do you think your turbulent upbringing encouraged unusual experiences?"
"Definitely. In the house at Waldemar Avenue in Fulham, where I grew up, there was a spirit in the bathroom. It made me do things. Naughty things I can't talk about."
She had her first psychic experience at nine months, and saw her first spirit when she was four. Then Jesus appeared to her on the bedroom ceiling. She left school with no qualifications and took various jobs related to the health service; she worked in the dental surgery for 25 years. When she was a teenager, a visitation occurred while she was listening to Cliff Richard.
"A voice said: 'Shut that bloody racket up.'" (Definitive proof, some might argue, that our Lord is both vigilant and merciful.)
She had her epiphany at Wimpy in New Malden, Surrey, in the mid-1970s.
"I met a friend there. She said she was getting married. I saw the man's face. Money was falling around him. Now he's a multi-millionaire. The face went, then returned. I realised I could choose to keep these things in my head, or not."
When she began giving psychic readings, she says, at first she didn't charge.
"People would bring me flowers," she recalls. "Maybe a cake."
Things have moved on a bit since then.
"Your website offers phone readings at £39.99 per half-hour. How do you justify that?"
"I have to maintain my integrity, OK?" says Morgan. "But how do you also keep people happy?"
She says that she hasn't inherited her father's temper, but has raised a finger, and looks well able to take care of herself in a debate.
"There are so many people," she explains, "wanting readings." (She's claimed to have 72,000 on her waiting list.)
"If you can read down the phone, why look at pictures?"
"Well, I do like working with a picture, I will be very honest."
"But why charge so..."
"You can't get psychics to work for nothing."
"How do you vet them?"
"I vet half a dozen at a time. I have a good Tarot reader, and a medium, and somebody that specialises in love and relationships."
"Where do they work?"
"It's done through a call centre. The call is transferred to their home."
"How many psychics work those lines?"
"About 30."
"How much of that £39.99 do they keep?"
"They're on a percentage."
"What percentage? Thirty? Fifty?"
"It can vary."
"So out of £40, they'd get what? £15 or £20?"
"Maybe even a little bit more."
"I'm not saying that any psychic who charges is automatically discredited..."
"Yeah, but look at the Vatican. I mean, hold on a minute..."
"Surely you're not comparing yourself to ..."
"No. I am talking about money. Money that goes into religion. Mosques. Churches and, er... Look at the money that goes into them. Because one is spiritual, it doesn't mean that one has to be on the poverty..." Morgan pauses, possibly remembering the Veuve Clicquot in the driveway. (The champagne was actually left over from her daughter Fern's 30th birthday party.) "I wouldn't be able to do what I do," she continues, "unless I could pay my bills."
I find myself wondering how long Morgan's been talking this way; perhaps since "one" met the Princess of Wales.
"It invalidates nothing if you charge a fee. It might do if you were exploiting people."
"I don't exploit anyone. If you find anyone that says I have, I want to have a conversation with that person. These people on these websites that attack me, they hide behind false names. I'm Sally Morgan. That is my name. I don't hide anything."
"There are some serious accusations on, say, badpsychics.com."
"I don't read them. What's the name of that website again?"
She writes it down.
"They mention a reading you did in August 2007, with Brian Dowling, who won Big Brother. I've seen that footage. Before you meet him, you're asked, on camera, if you know him. You say: 'I know of him.' But hadn't you ' already given him a reading, in February 2005? One that was mentioned on your website? One that had been published by the News Of The World?"
"Yes. Well... I don't want this in the newspaper, OK?"
"It's quite an important allegation; I think you should respond to it."
"I did it because the director told me to."
"Badpsychics also carried a review of a show you did in Grimsby Auditorium in May, where the contributor alleges that a woman mentioned having a relative crushed by a lorry. They say you gave the name 'Caroline'. And that, when the person explained that 'Caroline' meant nothing, you said that perhaps those three syllables meant that the victim had been: 'carried by the lorry'."
Morgan doesn't recall this.
"We have that on film. We film every show. In Grimsby we have a nut-nut that writes letters. Badpsychics," a site she now sounds a little more familiar with, "have got a bigger problem than me."
"Your critics focus on the fact that you used to advertise, on your website, that you had been called in to help police..."
"I have helped them; that's true."
"So why has that statement disappeared from your site?"
"I changed website people. It wasn't done deliberately."
"You claimed that you 'pinpointed' the body of Helen McCourt. (A 22 year-old from Billinge, near St Helens, murdered by a publican in 1988.)"
"Yes."
"Did the police call you in?"
"I have letters from Merseyside Police."
(She produces a grateful letter from the chief constable.)
"Did the CID approach you?"
"The mother did."
"But the body is still missing, isn't it?"
"Yes. The body is somewhere where the police don't have the money to dig."
"So you know where it is?"
"I know. It's on National Trust Property."
She shows me photographs of Rufford Old Hall, a 17th-century building just south of Preston, and a letter of thanks from the victim's mother, Marie.
My Psychic Life contains lengthy descriptions of the medium's meetings with the late Princess Diana. "I was psychic to the Princess of Wales, for God's sake," writes Morgan who, a few pages earlier, has conceded that Diana "was going through psychics like she was going through men".
"You seem awed by her." (At one point in the book Morgan says that the princess "would pay me cash, literally [my italics] from her purse.") Morgan's first impression of the royal residence at Kensington was: "Bloody great big house, mansion, palace... you could almost smell the money."
"I suppose I was awestruck at first."
Things relaxed after that. Morgan says that she told Diana, speaking of Charles, "I'll tell you what, he does love a pair of tits."
"You claim to have predicted Diana's death; you saw the car, the tunnel, and the cardiac massage."
"Yes. But I thought it was the Queen. This was before the princess gave the BBC interview where she called herself the Queen of Hearts."
In her autobiography, Morgan says that she described the crash scene to an associate of Diana's named Fiona, then forgot about it until the sitter reminded her, just after the tragedy.
"How could you possibly forget predicting that the Queen had died in a tunnel?"
"Because more incredible things happened in that reading."
Fiona, according to Morgan, telephoned four days after the crash. "She said: 'Sally, promise you will always say it was an accident."
The medium implies that her life is in danger if she ever says anything to the contrary. A letter has been deposited in a bank safe overseas. "In the event of my death in mysterious circumstances, it will be opened."
Fiona, sadly, is unavailable for interview. "It's a pseudonym," the medium says. "I wish I could tell you who it was. She was very close to the princess."
"It must be frustrating not to have all this confirmed by a witness."
"Not really. I would have to be completely deluded, mental, needing psychiatric help, if I made that up. To deny it, Fiona would have to say who she is. And I know things about that woman that could bring the whole establishment down. She ain't gonna wanna say nothing."
Being a medium, Morgan tells me, carries considerable responsibility in that she must handle any channelled information sensitively – although, in any case, "I never get malicious messages." This last statement sits a little uneasily with one passage in My Psychic Life, where she recalls how she treated a man who called her a liar. ("If there's anything that gets my goat," she says, "it's that.")
"This afternoon," Morgan told him, in front of his friends, "when you were in the doctor's and he had two fingers up your arse, you're not embarrassed by that? I think you're going to have to have the operation. Otherwise you'll have to keep on wearing the sanitary towels."
"You don't need to be Nostradamus to see that things are not going that well at the moment: do you see another terrorist attack in the UK?"
"No."
"London isn't going to get blown to bits?"
"No. I think Israel is. I think by Syria, allied with Jordan."
"So your advice is, don't buy any long books?"
"We are going to be around," Morgan replies, "for a long time."
A couple of days after our meeting, I go to see Sally Morgan on stage in Swindon. It's the opening night of her current tour. The hall, which holds 600, looks about two-thirds full. Most fans are women. Morgan engages in what her enemies would call blatant cold reading, pitching names to various areas of the hall. "Is there someone called Clark here?" she asks. In the sparsely populated circle alone, five hands go up.
Watching her perform does bury one myth: that she uses friends as "plants" in the audience. She talks at the end about having had "golden moments" and I struggle to recollect what they were; there was certainly nothing like the astounding hit she achieved with me. Probably her best success came when she was addressing a young Filipino woman whose brother is missing at sea. "I'm getting the name Bic," Morgan said. "B-I-C." "I am from a place called Victoria," the woman replies. "Sometimes abbreviated to Vict."
The following morning, I get a call from Richard Wiseman. With no assistance from a spirit guide, he has discovered the first names of my mother and brother. He put my name into a search engine, which led him to my publisher's website, where he found my place of birth. Then he consulted a site called genesunited.com. "I put in Manchester, and your name," he says, "which produced a list of records. From those I found your mother's maiden name, which led me to your brother. The whole thing took me a little under 90 minutes." Continuing the process myself, via the online registry of births, Friends Reunited and a school website, I find my brother's middle name online: this was a fairly laborious process of trial and error, which took the best part of an hour.
I tell Morgan about a conversation I had with the late Lord Soper. He told me mediums represented what he called "a kind of spiritual Fascism", because they encourage people to regress into a reality outside the known world, when they should be taking active responsibility for their own lives.
"It's not easy," she says, "what I do. It's not easy living with this ability. Added to the fact that everyone in bloody England is fascinated by me." (Possibly a hint of exaggeration here, given the turnout in Swindon, but never mind.) "Because at last I'm not the nut-nut. I am not a bad person. I am not mad. I am not unhinged. I just happen to do an extraordinary job, as well as I can."
"And how do you achieve your results in that job?"
"I don't know how I do it," she replies. "I believe in God. Why would I want to make anything up? You can fluff things up with words, but at the end of the day, what I do is, I talk to dead people."
Extraordinary though one moment of Sally Morgan's reading was, for some reason I'm haunted less by the ghosts of relatives than by my most recent conversation with Richard Wiseman, and especially his last phrase: "It took me a little under 90 minutes." I find myself dwelling on that, and on the large number of unrelated names the psychic came out with before apparently hitting the jackpot. That said, I have to go on record now as promising that if, five years from now, a voice leads Sally Morgan to the Alborz mountains in northern Iran, and she finds me there, living in a cabin (a dwelling I share with Baz, Boz, Oz, Gascoigne, Bascoyne, Lesley, Moll, Molly, Peter, Ann, Caroline, Emily, Amelie, Amelia and others), it will definitely be my turn to buy the champagne.
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